Agent Rhode Island: The War for Chorus
by TyForestWrites2
Summary: (Book 7) After Chairman Hargrove declares war on the Reds and Blues, things are going not quite as well as our favorite sim troopers and Freelancers hoped. But things turn around when they investigate a mysterious temple and Rhode encounters an enemy he thought was long since dead. (Agent Carolina x OC) (Vague hints of Tucker x Kimball)
1. Prologue: Contact

**Hey guys! This is TyForestGames and I'm back to write this new Red vs Blue fanfic: The War for Chorus. Man, I have been flying through these seasons. But anyway, Season 13 is my second favorite season of the series. So this is gonna be fun! So let's jump right in!**

 **XXX**

 **Prologue: Contact**

"A message to the Chairman of the UNSC Oversight Sub-Committee:

Dear Chairman,

My name is Epsilon, sometimes called Alpha, sometimes Church. You, of course, already know that because if you are hearing this message, that means you must be heading the investigation on the planet Chorus. I believe I can make your job _considerably_ easier.

Attached, you will find a series of documents and video files detailing the illegal and treasonous activities of your predecessor, Mr. Malcolm Hargrove. I have entitled these files 'Red vs. Blue'. You may want to pay _particular_ attention to sections 11 through 13.

They contain everything I know about the men and women who fought bravely on Chorus, and I entrust their story to your care. They were unique individuals. I fought both beside them, and against them, and... against them when I was supposed to be beside them. But in the end, they were my friends. And I will miss them dearly.

If this message seems a bit maudlin, or perhaps even over-dramatic, I hope you will excuse me. This is, after all, the story of how I died."

 **XXX**

 **And thus, the fan speculation began! Many people wondered what on earth Church meant, but I'm pretty sure everyone understood by the end. Till next time guys!**


	2. Chapter 1: Prologue

**Chapter 1: Prologue**

 **THE DEPTHS OF SPACE**

 **PRESENT DAY**

Tensions were running high on board the UNSC Tartarus, prison frigate for the United Nations Space Command. On the main control deck, Captain Mayers stood by the window and stared out into the infinite blackness. Just a few minutes ago, his pilot had picked up a distress signal coming from this very location. He didn't know much about this sector of space, but if there was someone in trouble and he hadn't responded to it, the UNSC would hear of it and most likely court-martial him.

Finally, he spotted the source of the distress signal, a lone Pelican-Class dropship floating slowly in the cosmos, "There she is."

Quickly, he switched on the radio, "Unidentified Pelican dropship, this is Captain Mayers of the UNSC Tartarus responding to your distress signal. Come in, over."

He waited for a reply, but none came.

"Unidentified Pelican, please respond."

On the main screen, the pilot did a quick scan of the ship, revealing 57% percent to the external thruster.

"Eh, comms are acting kind of funny," he murmured, "Maybe they can't hear us?"

"Or maybe they fell asleep at the wheel," quipped another crewmember, looking up from his monitor currently showing a KOX NEWS report of an interview with the Chairman of the Oversight Subcommittee, Malcolm Hargrove.

Mayers ignored him and went back on the radio, "Pelican, can you just give us a sign that you're reading us?"

After another pause, the damaged dropship flashed its headlights once.

"Oh hey, she lives!" the pilot cried.

Mayers nodded at this, "Pelican, are you able to make your way to our starboard docking bay? We'll be able to assist from there."

Another flash from the Pelican's lights confirmed the answer.

"Well," the pilot chuckled, "There you go."

Mayers turned to the other crew member, "Stassney, meet up with Blanton and Killgore in docking. Let's see what this is all about."

"Wait, how the heck you know that meant yes?" Stassney cried, "What if two flashes means 'yes', and one flash means 'stay away, alien zombies'?"

At that moment, the Pelican's thrusters switched on and the dropship veered away to the ship's starboard deck.

"You were saying?" Mayers said with a smirk.

"Fine," Stassney sighed, getting off his chair, "The signal sucks out here anyway."

As he left, Mayers took a moment to look at the interview on the monitor.

On it, Malcolm Hargrove was answering a question regarding a war being fought on some unknown planet, "What I can inform you is that the planet's inhabitants are extremely dangerous and we should all prepare ourselves for whatever may come next."

Mayers of course was no stranger to the news concerning Chairman Hargrove, but he couldn't care if there was some big battle going on on some backwater planet. He had his orders, and that was all that mattered to him...

 **XXX**

Down in the holding room, Stassney marched past the prison cells, trying his best to ignore the shouts and heckles of the prisoners contained within.

"Hey Stassney, why we stoppin'?" yelled one prisoner.

"Lemme guess," another added, "You're letting us go?"

The other prisoners roared with laughter at that joke.

"Quiet down," Stassney snapped, slamming his fist on the bars of one cell, "Just picking up what I hope are hitchhiking cheerleaders."

"In your dreams, moron!" scoffed the cell's occupant.

Stassney shook his head with a sigh. The prisoners had always found some opportunity to jeer and mock their guards whenever they could, but it didn't concern Stassney that much. As long as they had their threat of the purge, he wasn't too mad.

 **XXX**

He met up with Blanton and Killgore in the docking bay where the Pelican was waiting.

"Come on, Stas," Blanton called out, "Hurry up."

"It's just... weird," Killgore muttered, staring at the ship, "Seeing a military bird out here on her own like this, y'know?"

"Oooh, maybe it's some top secret covert ops," Stassney hissed, "Some hush-hush 'you never saw us' type of stuff."

"Yeah," Killgore scoffed, "And if we're lucky, they'll kill you to keep this quiet."

"Hey, we got a deadline to meet, all right?" Blanton cut in, "Ready up!"

With that, they turned towards the dropship, weapons drawn, "Pelican crew! You may now open your bay door and slowly exit the vehicle!"

In reply, the Pelican's door slid open and a hatch descended to form a ramp. At the top of the ramp stood a lone armored figure, its color obscured by shadow.

"Hands in the air!" Blanton ordered, raising his assault rifle.

"Yes, sir," the figure replied, lifting his hands over his head.

Killgore raised an eyebrow, "It's... just one guy?"

The figure chuckled, "Won't find anyone else on this ship."

"Come on out," Blanton demanded, "Take it slow."

As the figure stepped down the ramp, the light soon revealed the details of his appearance. He was dressed in steel-gray Scout-Class armor with orange trim.

"You all right?" Stassney asked.

"Yeah," The figure nodded, "I'm just glad ya found me."

With a frown, Stassney turned to his friends, "This guy don't sit right with me."

 **XXX**

Ten minutes later, in the control deck, Stassney and Killgore were laughing alongside the lone pilot, whose name they all learned was Felix, who had explained the reasons for his being stranded out there, ending his tale with a joke.

"This guy is my freakin' hero!" Stassney chortled, leaning on Felix's shoulder and smacking his chest-plate.

"Oh come on," Felix giggled, "You tell me every single one of you wouldn't have done the same thing. I mean, come on, am I right?"

"That is a heck of a story, son," Captain Mayers agreed, not joining in his crew's mirth, "But it's time we got you fixed up and went on our way. Lord knows we've wasted enough of the UNSC's time."

"Well hey," Felix snorted, "Are you hourly?"

The crew burst out laughing again.

"Now that's what I'm talkin' about!" Stassney laughed.

"Seriously though," Felix coughed, looking around the deck, "This ship looks like a freaking antique. Higher ups couldn't spare the extra cash to fix her up?"

"Ha!" Stassney cried, "Yeah, right."

"Military prison transport isn't very high on their budgetary priorities," Mayers conceded, "No use wasting money on cryo for lawbreakers. So they threw together a skeleton crew to make sure the cargo just makes it over alive."

"Yeesh," Felix grimaced, "Kinda scary."

"Nothing these men can't handle."

"Yeah," Stassney agreed, "We've got guns and the purge if things get bad, but the real killer out here is all the boredom."

"What about all the disappearances all over the news?" Felix asked, all joviality gone from his voice, "Ships not making it to port? I mean, what do you do if you're attacked?"

"Yeah," Killgore scoffed, "I doubt anybody's coming for our cargo."

"It ain't scavengers," Stassney hissed nervously, "I think it's them freakin' aliens, man."

"Not this again," Killgore groaned, as if he had heard this over a billion times.

"Oh sure, they say we're at peace," Stassney continued, "but you know them squid-heads will put a laser though our heads faster 'n greased lightning if we gave 'em the chance!"

"Hey, that's intolerant!" yelled a fourth crew member.

"You're intolerant!" Stassney retorted.

"Quiet!" Mayers snapped, silencing the debate.

He then turned to look at Felix, "Truth be told, no one gives a flying rat about the people on this ship. Anybody out there really wanted them, they could have them."

The crew chuckled among themselves, but Felix just gave a shrug, "All right, I'll take them."

Stassney fell silent at this, "What... uh. What'cha mean?"

Felix just smiled and spoke in a voice that was suddenly as cold as the ice on Planet Sidewinder, "I mean, I'm going to kill you and take your prisoners."

The crew members swapped nervous and uneasy looks.

"Huh?" Stassney asked.

Mayers didn't speak, but simply drew out his pistol and raised it towards Felix. Quick as a whip, Felix kicked the gun out of his hand, sending it flying into Stassney's head. Felix then launched a flurry of punches at Mayers' face. Stassney charged towards Felix, only to be brought down by a heel-kick to the groin. Felix then rammed his arm into the base of Mayers' neck, sending the captain sprawling on the floor.

"Come 'ere!" As Felix kicked Stassney in the head, Killgore lunged in, grabbed Felix's arm and spun him around.

He then swung out both fists in successive punches, both of which Felix caught before twisting Killgore's arms out and headbutting him. Then he dropped to his knees and swung out his leg, sweeping Killgore off his feet and sending him flying right into Zannack.

"Crap! Sorry!" Killgore cried before staggering round to punch Felix again.

Quickly Felix grabbed his arm to deflect the punch, spun him back round and threw a powerful blow to his upper arm, snapping it with a sickening crunch and making Killgore cry out in pain. The fourth guy jumped up and threw out a punch of his own, but accidentally hit Killgore in the face and sent him sprawling to the floor.

Next to Killgore, Stassney crawled around on his hands and knees, searching for Mayers' pistol, "Come on, come on!"

Finally he grabbed the gun, got on his knees and fired a shot, which missed Felix completely and hit the fourth crew member right in the head, "Oh."

Felix shook his head and charged forward, grabbing Stassney's legs and flipping him onto his back. As Killgore struggled to move, Felix slammed his foot into the back of his neck, snapping it.

Behind him, the pilot jumped to his feet, but before he could make another move, Felix pulled out a combat knife and threw it forward, hitting him right between the eyes, "Bulls-eye."

By then, Mayers had managed to crawl over to the command console and now he slammed his hand on the security alarm. All around the ship, sirens blared and the corridors were bathed in blood red lights.

 **XXX**

Down in the docking bay, Blanton looked up as the room turned red and alarms rang out, "Huh?"

But before he could even move, he suddenly felt his head being grabbed from behind and then twisted violently round, killing him instantly.

As his body fell to the floor, his killer materialized into view; a soldier wearing steel-gray Locus-Class armor with sage green trim. Behind him, eight other figures in black armor also appeared.

"No survivors," Locus ordered.

 **XXX**

The control deck doors opened and several guards charged into the room, raising their weapons, "Captain Mayers!"

In response, the captain swung around to face them, "At ease, gentlemen."

The guards pointed their guns at him, realizing that the voice who'd replied was not Mayers' voice. At that moment, Felix pushed his body aside and raised his gun, shooting down the guards.

On the floor, Stassney slowly reached towards one of the guard's rifle, but Felix slammed his foot onto his hand, sending him reeling back.

"Calm down, Stassney," Felix chuckled, "I'm not gonna kill you."

"You- you're not?" Stassney groaned.

"No." Felix then nodded to his left, "He is."

Stassney looked up to see Locus standing over him, a shotgun aimed for his head at point-blank range, "Oh, son of a-"

BANG!!!

 **XXX**

With the crew in the control deck dead, Locus and Felix made their way down to the prison cells, listening to the cries of agony as the rest of the Space Pirates eliminated the crew before reporting in.

"Sector 1, clear."

"Sector 2, clear."

"Sector 3, clear."

The two mercenaries nodded to each other as they reached the control panel that overlooked the whole prison. The prisoners on board the UNSC Tartarus would prove useful in their battle for the planet Chorus.

The prisoners yelled out in anger from their cells, but Locus picked up the intercom and switched it on, "Quiet."

The prison fell silent at Locus's deep voice.

"As of this moment, we are the new crew of this ship," Locus added.

"Well, who the heck are you?" one prisoner called out after a moment of silence.

"Why don't you let the people-person handle this, okay?" Felix snatched the intercom from Locus's hands, "Listen up. We're looking for soldiers who aren't afraid of killing lots of people for lots of money. We don't care who you are, and we don't care what you've done, because quite frankly, we've probably done a whole lot worse. All we want are men who can follow orders and hold their own on the battlefield. We're going to war, folks!"

The prisoners started muttering to themselves as Felix continued, "Now, our enemies are weak, but there's a lot of them, and they've got a couple of Freelancer agents on their side. But if you survive, you'll be rich enough to live out the rest of your lives as free men. Now, if this totally awesome idea doesn't sound like your kind of job, we'll let you off the ship. But if you're willing to fight for your freedom, then please firmly grasp the bars of your cell in a sign of solidarity."

Felix then looked over the rail at the cell doors. He smiled as he saw a large number of hands grabbing onto the bars, "Well, all right then."

He walked over to the control panel, flipped up the lid over a red button labeled 'Purge' and slammed his fist on it.

All around the prison, airlock doors slid open, unleashing the vacuum of space like the rush of water down the plughole. With several cries of panic, every prisoner that hadn't grabbed the bars were sucked out into the blackness, along with a few who didn't have the strength to hold on. Locus and Felix meanwhile activated the magnetic clamps in their boots, sticking them to the floor. After twenty seconds, Felix hit the 'Purge' button again, sealing the doors and sending the remaining prisoners sprawling on the floor of their cells.

Locus then switched on the intercom. "Congratulations, you're hired."

 **XXX**

"Before you say anything, yes, I know they triggered the alarm," Felix stated as he and Locus returned to the control deck, "And yes, I did have more fun because of it, thank you for asking."

Locus just snorted, "These prisoners lack our men's discipline."

"Control wants to even the numbers," Felix retorted, "You got a better idea?"

Locus didn't reply. He knew full well how badly their plans were going. It had seemed so simple at the time: make the residents of the planet Chorus wipe themselves out in a civil war then swoop in and take whatever valuable items awaited them there. But nearly three months ago, their plans took a drastic turn when one of the ships they brought down contained not only advanced top secret weaponry, but a small group of low-ranking, highly incompetent soldiers that somehow managed to escape their slaughter. Though they both wanted to eliminate them, their superior, Control, had instead ordered them to split the group up between the planet's two factions, the Federal Army and the New Republic.

However, what hadn't planned on was that not only did the soldiers manage to succeed in finding each other, they also uncovered and foiled their plans, saved the inhabitants from mass slaughter, decimated the Space Pirates' numbers, and worst of all, proclaimed themselves as the planet's defenders! In retaliation, Control declared war on the entire planet, and now Locus and Felix had found a opportunity to bolster their ranks.

Just then, the door slid open and one of the Space Pirates ran in, Locus's second-in-command, Jackson, "Locus, Felix, we've got a prisoner who doesn't really look up to par. The guy put two and two together and tied his bedsheets around his waist before the purge."

 **(A/N: I'm pretty sure tying bedsheets together isn't gonna save you from the vacuum of space, but whatever, this is a cool reveal.)**

"Quick thinking," Felix muttered admiringly.

"He asked to speak with you," Jackson continued, "Says he has something you need."

"Bring him in," Locus replied.

Jackson turned round and nodded his head forward. Then two other pirates came marching in, escorting a dark-skinned prisoner with an unconcerned face between them.

"Gentlemen, allow me to introduce myself," the prisoner said in a gentle voice, "My name is Aiden Price."

"Okay," Felix replied, "Well, Price, here's the deal: we're looking for soldiers, not... whatever the heck you're supposed to be."

Locus stepped closer to Price, his eyes narrowed, "You say you have something we want?"

"No, I have something you need," Price corrected, "The Freelancers you mentioned - am I correct in assuming they're Agents Carolina, Rhode Island, and Washington?"

"How would you know that?" Locus demanded.

"I know everything there is to know about my agents," Price answered, "As the... former Counselor of Project Freelancer, I helped mold them. Psychiatric analyses, medical histories; they're all housed right here."

He tapped the side of his head, "And I can give them to you."

"Hate to cut your lifeline short, Counselor," Felix chuckled, "But we've already got access to all of Freelancer's confiscated records-"

"If you're referring to the documents recovered by the UNSC," the Counselor interrupted, "you should know that is merely the tip of the iceberg."

Felix raised his pistol and pointed it at the Counselor's head, "I think you're bluffing."

"You think so?" the Counselor replied, unflinchingly, "Did you know Agent Washington refuses Artificial Intelligence access to his neural implants? Or that Agent Rhode Island has a very strange fondness for Agent Carolina that might go deeper than a simple friendship? Or that Agent Carolina's 57% more likely to neglect her teammates when presented with a competitive scenario?"

Locus and Felix gave no reply, "No? Then I also doubt you realize there is another inmate aboard this ship that shares a history with the Freelancers, one who would undoubtedly prove useful to you if he were properly guided."

For a while, the mercenaries were silent, then Felix put away his gun with a laugh, "Quick thinker and quick talker!"

He put his arm around the Counselor's shoulder, "We're gonna get along great!"

"This second inmate," Locus said, "Take us to him."

"Of course," the Counselor replied.

As he led the mercenaries out the room, on one monitor screen, Chairman Hargrove started calling his interview to a close, "Now, now, that's enough questions for today. Remember, all good things must come to an end."

 **XXX**

Down in the prison cells, the Counselor led Locus and Felix up to one cell where a rather tall inmate sat on his bed with his head bowed.

"This is the one," the Counselor said before turning to the inmate, "These gentlemen are your new employers. Would you like to introduce yourself?"

Slowly the inmate stood up and stepped out of the shadows. Felix took a step back as he examined the inmate's tattooed body, prosthetic eye, and horrible burn scars all along his face.

Then Felix turned to Locus, "Oh, yes. Control will be very happy about this."

 **XXX**

 **ARMONIA**

 **CAPITAL CITY OF CHORUS**

"Caboose!"

"Gah!" The blue armored sim-trooper jumped in alarm and whirled around to see his orange armored friend, Grif, standing in the doorway, "What?"

"Have you seen-" Grif broke off with a frown, "Wait a minute, what the heck are you doing?"

"Uhh," Caboose replied dimly, "You ever get the feeling something really, really bad is going to happen?"

"Only every single time I have to talk to you," Grif sighed, shaking his head as he left the room.

 **XXX**

 **If only you knew guys... Oh and I remember the days people were speculating who it was. People said stuff like it was the Meta or even York because of the missing eye. But most people said Sharkface and that's who it ended up being. Till next time guys!**


	3. Chapter 2: Capitol Assets

**Chapter 2: Capitol Assets**

 **ARMONIA**

 **DOWNTOWN**

Leaving Caboose in what he assumed was his own little world, Grif had now made his way into the heart of the city. As he walked, he took a moment to look around the streets and see the people who walked through them.

"Good morning, Captain Grif," called a tan armored soldier, one of the New Republic members.

"Hey," Grif replied, waving a hand.

"Good morning, Captain Grif!" shouted a soldier in white armor, a Federal Army member, who was helping the rebel with carrying a crate.

"Yeah," Grif said, nodding his head.

Grif paused for a moment to look at the two soldiers working together. It was hard to imagine that, just over a month ago, those soldiers would have been at each other's throats. For months before that, the Federal Army and the New Republic had been at war, each side blaming the other for sabotage, terrorist threats and bringing down the economy of the planet of Chorus. It was only thanks to Grif and his friends, the Reds and Blues aka the Blood Gulch Crew, that they realized that they had been duped by a gang of Space Pirates who had inveigled themselves into the two armies' ranks and thus prevented one of the biggest mass genocides ever recorded in the history of the universe. Now the armies had formed a truce between them, but they always took the time to greet their heroes whenever they could. However, Grif had too much on his mind at the moment to be too polite in his greetings.

As Grif was about to set off again, another rebel, whose armor had yellow trim, came running up to him, "Oh, oh! Captain Grif!"

With a sigh, Grif turned to face him, "Yes, Matthews?"

"Hey! Uh, uh, I just wanted to say, uh, thanks again for what you and the other Reds and Blues did for us," Matthews stuttered breathlessly, "If you guys hadn't shut down that radio tower, we'd be dead."

"Gosh, Matthews, I really appreciate that!" Grif replied with sarcasm as thick as tar, "Almost as much as I did the other fifty-six times you thanked me!"

"Oh, good," Matthews sighed, "I was worried it might start to come off as annoying."

"It does. That was sarcasm."

"Just gonna repress that!"

"What?"

Matthews didn't reply for a moment then looked round as if he only just realized that Grif was standing there, "Oh, Captain Grif! Uh, good to see you. I wanted to thank you for-"

"Look, do you know where Kimball is?" Grif cut off with a grunt, "I need to talk to her."

"Kimball? Uh, I'm pretty sure I saw her in the armory a little while ago."

"Great, thanks," Grif replied, setting off into the street.

"Do you need an escort?" Matthews called out.

"NO!" Grif yelled back crossly.

 **XXX**

 **ARMONIA ARMORY**

"Alright, explain to me again," Simmons stated slowly and carefully, "Why do you need a .50 caliber chaingun?"

The Fed soldier at the front of the queue thought it over, "...Because I'm a gunman."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I got that, you keep saying that," Simmons sighed, "I mean, why do you need it right now?"

"Hey G-man, hurry up!" yelled a rebel behind the gunman.

"Well," the gunman shrugged, "I mean, how else are people gonna know what I do around here?"

"You're a soldier," Simmons cried, "Everyone's a soldier! You shoot at people, who shoot at you, until one of you dies from all the shooting!"

"Yeah, but that's what I'm sayin'," the Fed retorted, "Without my big gun, I just look like all the regular soldiers."

"No you don't!" Simmons countered, "You've got white armor and red stripes!"

"Ugh, and they're just awful," groaned Donut, joining in the discussion, "I'm thinking we go bold. Maybe red armor with white stripes!"

"Huh?" the Fed asked baffled.

"Donut, just because you're in charge of uniforms doesn't mean you get to redecorate the entire army," Simmons sighed, "Besides, that'll completely ruin his camouflage."

"What camouflage?" Donut asked.

Simmons looked at the gunman Fed then at the other Feds waiting in line with the rebels, "Huh. Good point."

He looked back at the Fed in front of them. "How the heck have you not been shot yet?"

"What?" the Fed asked.

"It's because the New Republic can't aim for crap," yelled another Fed in the queue.

At this, the rebel in front of him whirled round to look at him, "Wanna say that to my face, punk?"

"Hey, cut it out!" Simmons snapped, "The armory is no place for violence. Now calm down, or I'm not gonna give you a gun."

"He started it," the rebel grumbled, turning back to the front.

Simmons shook his head sadly at the brief bout. After the New Republic had moved into the city, Carolina, Rhode, and Washington had insisted that each of the Reds and Blues did their part to help the two armies prepare themselves for battle against the Space Pirates, as well as keep the truce between them. Wash had appointed himself to train the troops in the shooting gallery, Simmons, Donut, and Lopez were in charge of maintaining their equipment and Tucker, Sarge, Rhode, and Carolina led troops out on raiding missions, capturing any base still being held by the Space Pirates. And while their help was extremely appreciated by the two armies' leaders, sometimes old grudges reared their ugly heads, threatening the truce between them. Simmons could hardly believe that they had managed a full month without killing each other.

At that moment, Grif came in and pushed his way to the front of the queue, "Outta my way. Captain on deck. Official officer business."

"Grif, what do you want?" Simmons asked impatiently, "Can't you see we're busy?"

"Where's Kimball?" Grif demanded.

"I don't know. Where were you during training this morning?"

"Where do you guys train again?"

Simmons gave an exasperated sigh, "In the training room."

"Oh, right, yeah," Grif said as if remembering, "Literally anywhere but there."

"Well," Donut piped up, "I think I heard Miss Kimball was inspecting the troops over there a little while ago."

"Aw man," Grif groaned, "Really?"

"(Hey!)" Lopez called out, poking his head up from behind a Warthog jeep, "(While you're there, tell Jensen to stop driving cars that she fixes! She drives like a teenager and a grandmother who were somehow combined and were also blind.)"

"Hey, Lopez?" Grif replied, "I don't speak Spanish. I have never spoken Spanish."

"Yeah," Simmons agreed, "Get with the times and just assimilate."

"(Cool,)" Lopez grunted, ducking under the jeep, "(I'm cutting the brakes on your next Warthog.)"

"See ya, morons," Grif called out, running out of the armory.

The gunman watched him leave, then turned back to Donut, "Do you really think my stripes are awful?"

 **XXX**

 **TRAINING ROOM**

BANG! Smith's traffic cone went down in a single shot.

BANG! Bitters' cone went down just as quickly.

BANG! Jensen hit her cone without a hitch.

BANG! Palomo's shot went wide, yet again.

"Lieutenant Palomo!" Washington yelled, halting the training.

"Yes, Agent Washington, sir?" Palomo replied nervously.

Wash made his way to the end of the line until he reached Palomo, "Explain to me how, in light of your recent promotion, you somehow manged to be worst at target practice!"

"Uh, because the newly added pressure of my rank makes me second-guess my actions more frequently in hopes I won't let down my fellow peers," Palomo blurted out hurriedly.

"Well, I don't-" Wash paused mid-rant as he considered the answer, "Oh. Um, I mean, that's understandable, Lieutenant."

"Also, I've been trying to make a smiley face for like nine minutes." Palomo looked up to see the shape of the bullet holes on the wall behind his cone, "Nailed it."

Wash sighed and put a hand over his visor. Once again, his self-appointment of leadership was making him question himself. During that time, he had helped the two armies improve their fighting skills for the upcoming battle, but he also put in time to train the squad members appointed by the four Blood Gulch captains; Antoine Bitters from Grif's squad, Katie Jensen from Simmons' squad, Charles Palomo from Tucker's squad (his only surviving member), and John Andersmith (Smith for short) from Caboose's squad. He also made sure that the rest of the Blood Gulch Crew were just as prepared for battle. The Reds and Blues of course kept themselves in top battle form. All, that is, except for one.

"Wash!"

'Speak of the devil,' Wash thought with a sigh as he turned to face Grif, "Now what?"

"Where's Kimball?" Grif asked.

"Oh! Captain Grif, how nice of you to join us," Wash stated sarcastically, "We missed you at practice this morning."

"Yeah," Grif chuckled, "That's probably because I wasn't there."

"So you weren't," Wash replied curtly, "Which is why everyone is going to give me three laps around the training facility."

All the squad lieutenants turned to him in shock.

"Aww!"

"What the?!"

"That's not fair!"

"Yes sir!" Smith replied with his usual gusto.

"Get moving," Wash ordered.

With muttered grumbles from three of them, the lieutenants set off in a run.

"You're punishing them?" Grif cried out shocked.

"Remedial training," Wash explained, "Disciplining a group for the actions of a single soldier leads to social pressures which typically results in the easy correction of an undesirable behavior. Classic military strategy."

"Thanks a lot, moron!" Bitters yelled out.

"So," Wash said, folding his arms, "Are we ready to begin today's training?"

"Uhhh... No?" Grif replied.

"All right then." Wash turned to the squad, "Let's make that four laps."

"Yes sir!" Smith replied, putting on a burst of speed.

Bitters and Palomo just groaned in dismay.

"Thir, I have an aththma attack!" Jensen protested.

Wash turned back to Grif, "How're you feeling now?"

"I feel like this military's freaking weird," Grif muttered, shaking his head slowly.

"FIVE LAPS!" Wash yelled at the squad.

"Yes sir!" Smith called out, while the others just groaned.

"Man!" Grif chuckled, "This is the best punishment ever!"

"What do you need Kimball for, anyway?" Wash asked, "She's in the middle of a meeting with Doyle."

"So, she's in the war room?" Grif guessed, turning to go.

"I- Wait wait wait wait wait, no!" Wash cried, running in front of Grif, "You're not going anywhere until-"

"Sorry, dude, gotta go," Grif interrupted, walking around Wash, "Uh, just punish them a little more. I'm sure I'll learn my lesson."

Wash watched him leave then his shoulders sagged with a sigh, "Gosh darn it."

Behind him, Smith returned to the shooting gallery first.

"Whew," he panted, "We sure showed him."

Bitters didn't reply, Jensen was wheezing too hard to answer, and Palomo simply collapsed to the ground with exhaustion.

 **XXX**

 **WAR ROOM**

"I don't care if your men prefer it," growled Vanessa Kimball, leader of the New Republic, "The fact of the matter is, we are going to run out of ammunition faster."

"But you're not taking the statistical advantage into account!" protested Donald Doyle, General of the Federal Army of Chorus, "Yes, the standard issue Assault Rifle has a firing range of fifteen rounds per second, but if those rounds aren't being fired at the enemy, then that means we have fifteen chances to kill the enemy every time we pull the trigger!"

"Without our mercenaries bringing in supplies, we need to make every bullet count."

Doyle's eyes narrowed as he glared at Kimball, "Are you doubting my soldiers' skill in the battlefield?"

"I am doubting so much more than that," Kimball retorted, returning the icy look.

For a few seconds, the two leaders stared at each other, then Doyle broke off with a sigh, "Ms. Kimball, it has been over a month since we began this truce, and there has yet to be a single day where you have not tested its strength."

"Well, that's probably because I don't like you!" Kimball snarled.

"Hey!" came a voice behind them.

Kimball and Doyle turned to see Grif entering the war room, "We got a problem!"

"Is it tan with a blue visor?" Doyle grunted bitterly.

"Bigger than that," Grif replied, "Now, I'm what most people consider a hero, like a firefighter, or the guy who invented the microwave, or, uh, the Oreo dude."

"Okay?" Kimball agreed slowly, unsure of where this was going.

"So what I want to know is, why a hero, such as myself, is not allowed to have second helpings in the mess hall!"

Doyle looked confused, "Umm... it's because we're low on food."

"Oh," Kimball scoffed, "So you have the common sense to ration our meals, but not our ammo?"

Doyle lifted up his hands in what he hoped was a disarming gesture, "That is hardly relev-"

"Hardly relevant?!" Kimball snapped.

"Hey!" Grif cut in loudly, "I know you guys are having a hard time playing nice, but there are bigger things at stake right now."

"Get out," Kimball growled.

"Like steak, for instance."

"Get. Out."

"We need bigger ones."

"Grif!" Kimball yelled, grabbing the orange sim-trooper's chest-plate, "Leave! Now."

Grif stepped back and grimaced awkwardly, "So, are we just going to put a pin in this, or-"

"Oh my God," Kimball grunted, "Will someone just put him on dish duty for the rest of the day?"

"What?!" Grif cried.

At that moment, one of the rebels came in and took Grif's arm, "Come on, sir. Let's go."

"This is some bullcrap!" Grif cried as he was escorted out the door.

Kimball took a few deep breaths to calm herself down, "Can we just talk about something else for a minute?"

"Right," Doyle agreed with a cough, "Well, the reason I originally came to speak with you was to inform you of our men's most recent assault."

"Wait, they radioed in?" Kimball gasped, "What happened?"

Doyle gave a nervous smile, "Well..."

 **XXX**

 **CHARON RESEARCH COMPLEX 2C**

"Alright, Sarge," Tucker called out, "Give me a beat!"

"You got it, Blue!" Sarge put his fists over his helmet filter and started humming out a rhythm.

"Oh yeah!" Tucker then turned to face the three tied-up Space Pirates and began busting a move, "Dun, dun, dun."

"What?"

"Another one bites the dust! Oh yeah! Another gone, and another one gone, another one bites the dust! Ooh!" Tucker flourished into a moonwalk before twirling around and throwing his hands out, "Yeah! We. Kicked. Your. Butts. Jerks!"

"Get down with your bad self!" Sarge cried.

"Alright, that's enough," Carolina chuckled, meeting up with her friends, "We just took their base. No need for cruel or unusual punishments."

"Are you sure?" Sarge asked with a smile, "I could drop some sick beats on them. Y'know, bust out some rhymes, make it old-school."

He chuckled at the idea.

"Oh for God's sake," Rhode groaned, walking to Carolina's side, "Please don't."

"Hmph, square," Sarge grunted.

Carolina laughed again. She was in a good mood following their latest success. For the past month, she, Rhode, Epsilon, Tucker, and Sarge had been leading the Feds and the rebels across the land, taking out any Space Pirate still remaining on Chorus. Every victory they'd gained on the mercenaries meant they were a few steps closer to stopping Charon's war against them, although sometimes Tucker and Sarge got a little too caught up in their triumph to worry about it.

"Come on," she decided, "Let's get this place sorted out. Intel says they were keeping some Freelancer equipment there."

"Right," Epsilon agreed, appearing on her shoulder, "Sarge, why don't you go check on the Feds? Tucker, you down to handle the rebels?"

"Yeah, yeah," Tucker replied, setting off towards the New Republic while Sarge hurried to join up with the Feds.

Once they were out of earshot, Epsilon shook his head, "In all the years we spent in the canyon, when the heck did he learn to dance?"

"I've got bigger questions on my mind right now," Carolina replied, turning to look behind her.

"Yeah?" Rhode asked, turning too, "Like what?"

Carolina's eyes narrowed as she stared out at some large floating structure out in the distance, "Like what else was Charon studying out here."

 **XXX**

 **And the plot thickens already! Till next time guys!**


	4. Chapter 3: What's Yours Is Ours

**Chapter 3: What's Yours is Ours**

As Carolina, Rhode, and Epsilon stared at the floating tower, a Fed soldier approached them, "Agent Carolina, Agent Rhode, we've retrieved what appears to be a domed energy shield from within the complex."

"The bubble shield?" Carolina cried, turning around, "Are you sure?"

The Fed looked nervous, "Uhh..."

 **XXX**

 _Earlier..._

"Hey, check it out," the Fed called to his friend. "Looks like another piece of Freelancer tech."

His friend approached the device slowly. "What's it do?"

Carefully, he flicked a switch on the side... and was suddenly thrown backwards by the energy dome that materialized outwards.

 **XXX**

"Yeah, we're pretty sure," the Fed replied, handing the device to Carolina.

"That's great," Carolina said happily, "We can hook it up and start running some tests in a few hours."

"Hey, whoa whoa whoa, slow down," Epsilon cut in, flashing in front of her face, "What about the giant floating tower in the sky? Did you forget about that crazy stuff?"

"What, the temple?" the Fed asked. Carolina, Rhode, and Epsilon turned to look at the Fed with baffled expressions.

"That the aliens made?" he added somewhat skeptically.

"I'm sorry," Rhode stated slowly, "What?"

"You're familiar with that structure?" Carolina added.

"I-I mean, I think most of us are, yeah," the Fed stuttered.

Epsilon flashed in front of the Fed, "Alright, I'm gonna stop you right there. You're telling me that people on this planet are just used to seeing flying space stuff like that?"

"Pretty much." The Fed then turned to a fellow soldier down by the complex, "Hey Randy! You ever seen one of those alien towers before?"

"Oh yeah!" Randy shouted back, "My dad took me to one when I was a kid!"

"They're nice, right?"

"Oh yeah! They had funnel cake outside, too!"

"Oh, I remember that!"

"Yeah," Randy chuckled, heading into the complex, "Good times."

"So, yeah," the Fed said, turning back to Epsilon, "I mean, pretty common."

"How is this not a bigger deal?" Epsilon cried.

"Well, come on, man. I mean, they've been around forever and they don't really do anything-"

"IT'S A GIANT FLYING TOWER!" Epsilon screamed.

"And you're a dead guy that's also somehow an AI, okay?" the Fed countered, "That stuff's weird too, but you don't hear me going on about it."

"Enough," Carolina cut in, handing the shield back to the Fed, "Just secure the Freelancer equipment. Epsilon and I will be by in a few minutes."

"Yes, ma'am," the Fed sighed, running back to the complex.

Epsilon went back to Carolina's shoulder, "But I don't care what these guys say, those towers aren't some tourist trap. They're important. Remember the tractor beams at Crash Site Alpha? Charon is studying these things and making them do stuff. That's bad."

"I think we get it," Rhode replied with a nod, "So, who would you say is our resident expert on alien technology?"

 **XXX**

In a flash of light so bright that Carolina, Rhode, and Epsilon had to cover their eyes, a Fed soldier with purple trim on her armor appeared and promptly nearly deafened them with an enthusiastic squeal, "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! Conducting research in the field! Oh, I knew today was gonna be a good day!"

"Hello, Doctor Grey," Carolina, Rhode, and Epsilon muttered reluctantly.

"Oh, I can't tell you how nice it is to get out of the office and away from all the complaining! 'My leg hurts!' 'I need blood!' 'But I don't want to have a robot arm!'"

Carolina swapped a regretful glance with Rhode, "Right. Well, the reason we called you here is-"

"To investigate the alien temple Charon's been studying," Dr. Grey interrupted, going straight into business mode, "Yes, dear, you told me on the radio. Not surprising really; emerged from the ground shortly after the UNSC pulled out, never did anything sadly, but that doesn't mean that they won't! Thankfully, I spent time brushing up on their history in between college internships. Aren't you so happy we're such close friends?"

Carolina was silent for a moment, amazed that Dr. Grey had said so much in just one breath, "I am... so thankful."

Just then, Tucker and Sarge came running in, having heard the squeal earlier.

"Oh great," Tucker sighed, "The mad scientist finally showed up."

"Hey, what's the status on that robot arm I ordered?" Sarge asked.

"Still in the trial stages, Colonel!" Dr. Grey replied, "Volunteers are proving hard to come by."

"Well, that's ridiculous," Sarge grunted.

"Yeah," Rhode muttered, rubbing the back of his neck, "Robot parts just... aren't really all they're cracked up to be. Trust me."

"Why don't you just give that arm to Simmons?" Tucker asked, "I mean, he's a cyborg, right? Surely he'll need a replacement."

"Don't be stupid, Tucker," Sarge retorted, "Simmons already has a robot arm. I'm not cutting off his other arm, he'll need that."

"Anyway," Carolina cut in, turning to Dr. Grey, "Why don't you go take a look at Charon's research? Epsilon and I have a few armor upgrades to take care of."

"Don't mind if I do!" Dr. Grey chimed, running off.

Carolina and Epsilon then set off towards the complex. The moment she was gone, there was another flash of light and Grif and Simmons suddenly appeared, collapsing to the ground.

"Gah! I hate that," Grif groaned.

"At least you don't get headaches," Simmons grunted, feeling a pain in his cyborg brain.

"Grif, Simmons, you're late!" Sarge bellowed.

"You were saying?" Grif sighed as he and Simmons got to their feet.

"What took you guys?" Rhode cried, "It's instant teleportation."

"Well, we had to make sure Lopez and Donut could handle things while we were gone," Simmons explained.

"You hand out weapons and armor," Tucker said. "How hard can it be?"

Grif and Simmons swapped worried looks.

 **XXX**

Back in Armonia, Lopez was tending to the next person in the queue, "(Welcome to the armory. How may we assist you?)"

"Lopez says you're two days late on your weapon rental," Donut misinterpreted.

Lopez turned to the pink soldier angrily, "(Why do you insist on translating for me, when you could just be talking to them yourself?!)"

"Whoa, no need to call the man a turkey baster, Lopez! Everybody makes mistakes," Donut turned to the Fed in line.

"Forgive him," he hissed, "It's his fiery Latin temper."

Lopez visor-palmed, "Dios mio."

 **XXX**

"Yeah, harder than you think," Simmons replied.

"So, you got the goods?" Grif asked.

"You're darn right we do!" Sarge waved his hand towards a large pile of guns and crates in the corner, "Weapons, ammo, laser beams; you name it! It's Christmas come early! Unless you're looking at it from the Pirates' point of view, in which case, it's kinda the opposite."

"Hanukkah?" Tucker asked.

"Excellent work, sir," Simmons said loyally, "Another enemy outpost taken down. I just wish I could've been there to see you on the battlefield."

"Why don't you guys come with us on the next mission?" Rhode invited.

"Whoa-ho-hokay," Simmons cried, waving his hands, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves here."

"Better start packing this stuff up." Grif pulled out a teleportation grenade and chucked it at the weaponry, sending it back to Armonia in a flash of light, "Well, that's enough back-breaking labor for one day."

Just then, the PA system in the complex switched on overhead.

"Eureka!" Dr. Grey yelled out.

"Ow," Grif moaned, shaking his head.

"I made a discovery!" Dr. Grey announced.

"Man," Tucker muttered, "And I thought I was fast."

"What?" Rhode asked.

"I mean, uh, what? Nothing," Tucker stammered.

Then another voice came over the system, "Ma'am, give me back the microphone!"

"Hold on!" There was the sound of a heavy punch, then Dr. Grey came back on, "All Freelancer-related people, get your butts in here!"

"Ma'am, please calm down!" the second voice cried out, as the sounds of a struggle were heard.

"You have no appreciation for modern science!" Dr. Grey snapped.

The struggle continued over the system for a while, before switching off.

 **XXX**

After giving her some time to finish her fight, Tucker and the Reds met up with Dr. Grey.

Then Carolina joined the team, "That was fast."

"Look, it's completely normal, okay!" Tucker snapped.

"Wait, what?" Epsilon asked.

"QUIET!!!" Dr. Grey yelled, causing everyone to stand at attention.

Then she cleared her throat, "Thank you. Now, say what you want about our enemies-"

"They suck," Simmons cut in.

"They're dirtbags," Sarge added.

"Total jerks," Tucker put in.

"Yeah, not an invitation to talk, guys," Epsilon pointed out.

"But you can't discount their ambition," Dr. Grey continued, "Or intelligence, for that matter."

"Right," Rhode agreed, "There's a reason Chairman Hargrove got to where he is now."

"This compound isn't one of Charon's typical munitions factories or radio jammers," Dr. Grey stated, "They're not disassembling alien artifacts here, they're trying to turn them back on. And that tower you saw seems to be their primary target."

"Oh, see?" Epsilon cheered, "Who called that? Me!"

"So what does it do?" Simmons asked.

"That's exactly what I intend to find out," Dr. Grey replied eagerly, "Now, who's down for a field trip?"

"Uhh, what?" Tucker asked puzzled.

"Well, if I'm going to take a look at this tower, I'll require an escort," Dr. Grey explained, "How about you, Simmons? You've always seemed intelligent."

"Oh, thank you!" Simmons stated proudly.

"Well, compared to your friends."

"Oh," Simmons moaned, his shoulders sagging, "Why did you feel the need to add that?"

"No way!" Grif said, "This has got Blue Team problems written all over it."

"Aw, c'mon, man!" Tucker cried out.

"Hey, you're the one that grabs swords and gets impregnated by aliens, right?" Grif argued, "So don't come crying to me."

"Epsilon, Rhode, and I should stay behind in case Charon launches a counterattack," Carolina said.

"Yeah," Epsilon agreed, "And I can try to get through some of this data while you're out."

"Well, don't you worry about it, little lady," Sarge chuckled suavely, "Me and Aquaman over here can handle whatever diabolical schemes those no-good Space Pirates may be preparing for us at this very moment."

"Oh no," Dr. Grey laughed, "You'll mainly just be carrying my survey equipment to the site."

"Ah," Sarge muttered glumly. "Right, then we'll... carry that- we'll carry the crap outta that stuff."

"Mm, fine," Tucker sighed, "Let's just get this over with."

"Actually, a four-man team would be ideal," Dr. Grey admitted, "You wouldn't happen to know of anyone else you can spare to help us, would you?"

Epsilon flashed onto Tucker's shoulder, "Oh, I can think of someone."

Tucker turned to look at him, "Please don't."

 **XXX**

In another flash of light, the fourth team member appeared at the complex, with an eagerness that almost completely overshadowed Dr. Grey's enthusiasm.

"Field trip! WOOOOO!" Caboose cheered, running around the complex, "We are going to a field! Oh my God, this is going to be... AMAZING!"

Tucker sighed and turned to Epsilon, "Church?"

"Yeah?"

"You're dead to me."

"Yeah, that's tough, I'll cry on the inside," Epsilon retorted sarcastically, "Don't forget to pack his lunch. Also, he needs to take that pill twice a day."

 **XXX**

 **Hey Caboose! You were gone for an episode! The show almost felt naked without you! Till next time guys!**


	5. Chapter 4: Tourist Trap

**Chapter 4: Tourist Trap**

 **CHARON EXCAVATION SITE**

Upon arriving at the base outside the alien temple, Sarge scouted out the area with the scope of his sniper rifle, "Huh. Looks deserted."

"I've heard that one before," Tucker muttered.

"It's likely any remaining Charon personnel would've retreated after you took their research complex," Dr. Grey assumed, "Or maybe they're at lunch. I'm hungry."

"Well, how do we know for sure?" Tucker asked.

"I think I know how to find out." Caboose climbed on top of a boulder and called out in a loud voice, "IS ANYBODY STILL HERE?!"

"Caboose!" Tucker, Sarge, and Dr. Grey snapped.

"WHAT? OH, SORRY-" Caboose cleared his throat then spoke in a lower voice, "Um, sorry."

"You big blue idiot, you'll give away our position!" Sarge then ran out into the open and shouted, "IF YOU'RE STILL HERE, JUST IGNORE THAT LAST BIT!"

"Good save, Sarge," Tucker groaned, visor-palming.

"Caboose, if you could," Dr. Grey offered, "Please have Freckles run a thermal scan of the area."

"Ah, yes," Caboose replied, taking out his assault rifle, "Um, hey, Freckles?"

"YES, CAPTAIN CABOOSE?" the gun asked in a tinny robotic voice.

"Oh, yes, uh, Freckles, could you go ahead and give me a... thermal... sweater to the base... thing?"

"AFFIRMATIVE, "Caboose pointed his gun at the base and a red light shone out from underneath the muzzle, scanning the area.

"Heat scanners and Google Translate," Tucker chuckled impressed, "Nice."

"If you put the brain of a killing machine into an assault rifle, you don't cut corners," Dr. Grey explained.

Freckles' AI used to be housed in a giant Mantis-Class military assault droid that Caboose revived and then adopted when he found him in Crash Site Bravo. Unfortunately, during the battle that had separated the Reds and Blues, Freckles' body was destroyed. The Feds were able to recover his Primary Storage Unit that held the AI and gave it to Washington, who later returned it to Caboose when the Blood Gulch Crew were reunited. With Dr. Grey's help, Freckles was installed into Caboose's gun, which made the Blue happy, and he and his 'pet' had been inseparable ever since.

"Can you give it control over the safety?" Sarge asked Dr. Grey now.

"AFFIRMATIVE," Freckles replied, "ALSO, I HEARD THAT."

"Whoa-oh," Sarge gulped, backing away slowly.

"Don't worry!" Dr. Grey reassured the Red leader, "My attempts determined that it was actually safer to give Freckles full control of the rifle rather than Caboose."

"How'd you test that?" Tucker asked curiously.

"I gave Caboose the rifle for about five seconds."

"Makes sense."

"What a busy day at the hospital that turned out to be!"

"So what happens when you pull the trigger?" Sarge asked.

"It releases confetti and makes a fun party sound!"

At that moment, they heard a loud crack, followed by the toot of a party horn.

"Tucker did it," Caboose said after a pause.

 **XXX**

Freckles' scan soon revealed that there was no unfriendly heat signatures, so Dr. Grey, Tucker, Caboose and Sarge made their way over to the base. Once there, Tucker immediately ran inside the building to look around and didn't come out again until much later.

"Yep, the place is definitely deserted," Tucker reported as he joined his friends.

"We already knew that!" Sarge snapped.

"Yeah, but I just wanted to make extra sure! You know, for extra safety." Tucker then looked round and saw Dr. Grey fiddling with one of several pieces of high-tech equipment, "Oh look, you finished moving all of Grey's tools without me. Maaan, bummer!"

Sarge gave an annoyed grunt, "You wouldn't happen to be related to the Grif family, would ya?"

"I mean, I had relations with his sister!" Tucker replied with a smirk, "Bow chicka bow wow!"

"Awwwwwwww- Yeah, I don't get it," Caboose replied.

"Right, let's begin!" Dr. Grey stepped closer to the building, cleared her throat and switched on the log recorder in her helmet, "This is the audio recording of Dr. Emily Grey, number 05519. Upon arriving at the excavation site, I have made several observations. One, there's a large alien structure protruding from the ground and extending into the sky. Two, it's nice and sunny out today and I love it! End log."

"Ladies and gentlemen, the smartest person on the entire planet," Tucker sighed, shaking his head.

"I know!" Caboose hissed nervously, "It's really intimidating."

"Shut up."

"So, what's up, doc?" Sarge asked.

"Well, that depends!" Dr. Grey replied, turning back to them, "Who here speaks alien?"

"Church taught me a swear word," Tucker replied.

"No hablo espanol," Sarge added.

"I only know Wingdings," Caboose added.

Tucker stared at him, "What, like the font?"

"It's a very misunderstood language."

"Okay!" Dr. Grey decided, "I'm just gonna take all of that as a no, so why don't you all keep watch while I investigate the ruins?"

"Ugh, fine," Tucker sighed, heading towards the temple.

"Roger that!" Sarge replied eagerly, running back towards the base.

"Yes, square plate diamond snowflake happy face!" Caboose shouted, running after Sarge.

Now alone, Dr. Grey picked up one of her handheld scanners and turned towards the temple. "Now then, let's see what you're hiding..."

 **XXX**

 **ARMONIA, ARMORY**

Donut looked round when he heard a future cube going off and he ran out the armory to find Grif and Simmons getting back to their feet.

"We're back!" Simmons called out, shaking off another headache.

"Finally!" Donut shouted in relief, "I don't know what has gotten into Lopez today."

Grif then tossed another future cube on the ground, bringing out the stolen weaponry in a flash of light, "Well, have fun sorting through all the junk. I got a date with some crackers and a can of Cheez Whiz."

"Really, Grif?" Simmons sighed.

"Nah, I'll probably skip the crackers," With that, Grif set off, but the moment he stepped out of the armory, he stopped in his tracks, "What the...?"

A huge gathering of Fed and New Republic soldiers stood all around him, glaring angrily at him. And at the head of the group, panting and barely upright, were the four squad lieutenants.

"Oh, hey, Grif," Palomo stated sardonically.

"Uhhh, hello?" Grif replied unsurely.

"Can't help but notithe you haven't been by the training room yet," Jensen added.

"Is... Wash still making-"

"Yup," Smith cut in bitterly.

"And all of them are-"

"Really tired of running laps," Bitters finished sourly.

Grif swallowed hard, "Yeah, I gotta go-"

"Take him!" Palomo yelled, "Take him now!"

With a series of angry yells, the Feds and rebels charged towards Grif and swarmed all over him.

"No!" Grif screamed, struggling in the fight, "They made me do the dishes!"

Simmons and Donut came running at the sounds of combat, but slowed down once they realized that they weren't fighting each other, but were working together to overwhelm Grif. Simmons smiled to himself, happy to know that for once, the two armies of Chorus had at least one thing in common...

 **XXX**

 **CHARON RESEARCH COMPLEX 2C**

Carolina and Rhode, meanwhile, were testing Carolina's new equipment (Carolina insisted that she have them all. Rhode was not one to argue with her) the only way they knew how: fighting each other. It was also a training routine, as they sparred against one another.

They grappled for a second or two before Rhode jumped up, still holding onto her arms, and kicked both of his feet out. Carolina was knocked back several feet.

"You're getting better," she panted.

"Oh come on," Rhode breathed, "Haven't I always been awesome?"

Carolina chuckled and got into fighting position, suddenly turning invisible. Rhode took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and listened. He was used to this enhancement now. He suddenly heard footsteps to his right and swung out his right arm, activating his hardlight shield.

He felt the connection and Carolina came back into view, stumbling back. She growled, surprising Rhode. Why did she growl at him? She zoomed towards him at super speed and punched him square in the visor, knocking off his helmet. Before he even hit the ground, Carolina zoomed back across the room and kicked him in the back, now knocking him on his stomach.

He struggled to get up and saw Carolina skid to a stop and the sudden stop caused her helmet to fall off. Rhode saw anger burning in her green eyes, and he was petrified of fear because of it. What was happening? Then the anger subsided as she looked into his blue eyes and her eyes widened.

"Oh my gosh..." She said as she ran over and helped him up, "I'm so sorry. Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Rhode groaned, "I'm fine. But what happened to you?"

Carolina looked down in shame, "When you hit me with that shield... I saw _him_..."

Rhode was silent, letting those words sink in, "...Oh."

"It's just..." She said, "At one point, you trusted him. You all trusted him. And then he goes and reveals he's your enemy and you lose a good ally. Not only that, he and Locus managed to beat us. I'm just... so _angry_ whenever I'm reminded of him."

Rhode then pulled her into a hug, surprising her, "Hey. Don't worry. I hate the guy too. We'll get our rematch."

She smiled as she hugged back, remembering why she fell in love with this guy.

 **XXX**

Back at the tower, Dr. Grey had uncovered some alien text on the temple's wall and was about to get her scanner out when Tucker paced past her, muttering to himself, "Bored. Bored. Boooored. Bored."

"Captain Tucker," Dr. Grey sighed, getting to her feet, "Why don't you patrol somewhere else?"

"No way!" Tucker cried, "I wanna be here for whenever you find out how to turn this thing on."

"Why?"

"Uh, because it's probably gonna look awesome as crap? With like holographic lasers in the sky? I want a front row seat for that."

Dr. Grey shook her head, "You know, I bet you'd have just as good of a view if you joined your friends at the base."

 **XXX**

At the excavation site, Sarge and Caboose stood on the roof of the base and kept watch.

For a while, they were silent, then Caboose turned to Sarge and spoke, "Hey."

"Yeah?" Sarge asked.

"You ever wonder..." Caboose paused.

"Wonder what?"

"Ah, um sorry, kinda spaced out. Is that Church?" Caboose raised Freckles up and pulled the trigger, sending more confetti out with another toot, "Nope. Rock."

 **XXX**

"Pass," Tucker said after some thought.

"Oh," Dr. Grey replied, "Well then, perhaps you could find something more productive to do with your time."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Practice aiming, or push-ups, or... whatever it is you soldiers do," She then took out her scanner and turned back to the text.

"Pfff, practice aiming," Tucker scoffed, "Nobody does that."

 **XXX**

"Freeze!" Donut ordered, aiming a futuristic rifle, "Reach for the sky, mercenary scum!"

"Donut, put that down! It's not a toy, it's..." Simmons paused as he took a proper look at the gun, "Wait, what is that?"

"I dunno," Donut replied, "It was in the pile of laser weapons you and Grif brought back."

"Looks like an old plasma rifle. Guess it got shipped by mistake."

"So does that mean I can keep it?"

"Well, Kimball did say all the alien stuff was broken," Simmons recalled, "But I still can't help but feel that you're setting a bad example for the children."

"Children?" Donut asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, right," Simmons suddenly remembered, "Right, Caboose went with Sarge. Uh, yeah, forget it, go nuts."

"Yes!" Donut cheered, returning to his practice aiming as Simmons headed back to the armory, "Agent Double-0 Donut is back in action!"

He then heard a cough and turned to see a New Republic soldier waiting behind the counter, his hands raised above his head, "Um... so yeah, can I get my rifle now?"

"I'm on the case!" Donut declared, running into the storeroom.

The rebel lowered his hands with a sigh. "I bet the Feds never had to put up with this."

 **XXX**

"Boosh! Ha-ha!" Tucker yelled, his rifle aimed at the other wall, "Oh, oh, what, you talkin' to me? Hm, you talking to me, huh? Yeah! Hi-yah!"

Dr. Grey sighed as she listened to Tucker's practice aiming, "Bet the Rebels never had to put up with this."

Tucker had decided to take Dr. Grey's advice advice and do some practice aiming, but he had made more exciting by pretending he was fighting Felix. The last time they had tackled, Tucker had barely survived, so he'd hoped with a little practice, he would get the upper hand the next time they fought.

"Oh, so you want a rematch, huh?" he chuckled, drawing out his energy sword, "Well, if you insist."

With a flourish, he switched on his trusty weapon, but just as he did, a strange holographic projection appeared on the door behind him.

"Huh?" Tucker turned round and stared at the door, "Uh, hey doc?"

"Transcribing! Please don't interrupt!" Dr. Grey took a closer look at the text, "'Weapon'... 'weapon'... Why does it all say 'weapon'?"

She swept her scanner over the next word, "Oh!"

"I think I found something!"

"Not now, please, I may have just made a breakthrough!" She held up the scanner for a closer look, "What is that word...?"

"Okay, yeah," Tucker called back, slowly approaching the door, "But I think you really wanna see this."

Dr. Grey frowned as she saw the translation, "Is it... 'key'?"

Tucker leaned forward to look at the symbol.

It looked almost like a blue outline of a heart with a circle in the center, "This is some serious weird alien-"

Suddenly, a large red alien appeared right in front of him, "CRAP!"

He stumbled back in alarm, but as he fell, the tip of his sword swiped right through the alien. Instantly the alien disappeared, and the symbol returned, but this time the circle in the middle split in half. Suddenly the whole tower started to shake.

Dr. Grey jumped up and ran over to Tucker, "What did you do?!"

"I... have no idea," Tucker gasped, getting to his feet.

Just then, the tower began to glow with white light, causing Tucker and Dr. Grey to cover their visors. The light was so bright that everyone at the research outpost could see it.

 **XXX**

At that moment, back at the armory, Donut was still playing around with his new gun, "Down on yer knees, pilgrim!"

"Donut, cut it out!" Simmons snapped, pushing the gun away from his face, "Wait, are you supposed to be a spy or a cowboy?"

Before Donut could reply, the gun suddenly switched on and laser beams shot out from the end.

"Yipe!" Donut yelped.

"Ahh! What the crap!?" Simmons screamed, narrowly avoiding a beam as he ducked down, "Oh my God!"

At the same time, the other weapons and teleportation grenades began to glow, and then exploded almost immediately, sending plasma energy all over the room.

"Ahhhh! God, why!" Simmons cried, "What is happening?"

Then, just as suddenly as it turned on, Donut's weapon switched off and the room fell silent, save for Simmons' screams.

Lopez came in at that moment and looked around at the damage caused by the weapons' spontaneous combustion, "(I'm not cleaning that up.)"

 **XXX**

Back at the tower, the light faded. Tucker and Dr. Grey lowered their hands, and found themselves staring at a huge assortment of alien weapons and vehicles hovering over the floor.

Just then, Sarge and Caboose came running up to them.

"What in the heck just happened?" Sarge demanded, "Where'd all those guns come from?"

"Did you see that?" Tucker gasped.

"Of course we did!" Sarge cried.

"Yeah, I mean, the view wasn't that great," Caboose admitted, "But, um, yeah, we got the gist of it."

"Told you!" Tucker yelled at Dr. Grey.

Suddenly they heard a deep booming voice calling out to them in a language none of them understood.

"Um, what?" Caboose asked.

"It's... alien," Dr. Grey breathed.

"No kidding!" Tucker snapped.

The voice spoke again, this time addressing the research team.

"Well, say something!" Dr. Grey hissed excitedly.

"Uh..." Tucker stammered, "What's up?"

The voice then gave a deep rumble, almost like a disappointed sigh. Then the ground shook again and the light flashed again. When they opened their eyes again, the tower was dark once again and the alien tech had vanished without a trace.

"Whoa," Tucker gasped... and then was suddenly tackled to the floor by Sarge, "Ow!"

"When the voice... of an alien... Jesus... calls down to you," Sarge yelled between each punch he gave Tucker, "You do not... respond with... 'What's up'!"

"Tucker!" Dr. Grey called, pulling Sarge away, "Do you have any idea what you just did?"

"I don't know," Tucker groaned, rubbing his head as he stood up, "Suffered a concussion?"

"You just activated technology that's been dormant for thousands of years," As she spoke, a holographic map suddenly appeared before them, showing the continents of Chorus and a small light blinking in the middle of it, "And now I think it wants you to go somewhere."

 **XXX**

 **And our first big mind blow of the season: Tucker's sword is still a key. Till next time guys!**


	6. Chapter 5: No Fighting in the War Room

**Chapter 5: No Fighting in the War Room**

 **TRACTOR BEAM TOWER A**

 **CRASH SITE ALPHA**

Unaware of the activities at Research Complex 2C, Locus and Felix listened as the Counselor, now dressed in a gray and black uniform, listed the details of their latest recruit, "He's been calling himself 'Sharkface'."

 **(A/N: And there's your confirmation folks!)**

"What is he, a Batman villain?" Felix scoffed.

"His physical appearance, combined with a deep-seated sense of contrarianism seems-"

"Oh my God, shut up!" Felix snapped, "I don't care."

"Can we use him?" Locus asked.

"If we continue our sessions, absolutely," the Counselor replied.

"Good."

"'Sharkface', 'Locus'; whatever happened to normal freaking names?" Felix snorted derisively, "I mean, am I crazy?!"

The Counselor raised an eyebrow, "Well..."

"Don't psychoanalyze me," Felix warned, pointing a threatening finger.

Suddenly, the lights switched off and the humming of the tractor beam faded to nothing.

"What was that?" the Counselor asked, concerned.

At that moment, the mercenaries' radios switched on, "Felix, Locus, we've got a problem."

"Report, Jackson," Locus replied, answering the call.

"Our teleporters malfunctioned," Jackson said nervously, "They just detonated."

"How many?" Felix asked.

"Well..." Jackson paused for a moment, "Um... all of them."

Locus and Felix swapped puzzled expressions, each hidden by their respective helmets. But before they could dwell on the matter further, a red light flashed behind them and they turned to look...

 **XXX**

 **ARMONIA WAR ROOM**

Washington and a very exhausted Grif met up with Simmons, Lopez and Donut in the war room, where they found Doyle and Kimball in the middle of a radio discussion with Carolina, Rhode, Epsilon, Dr. Grey, Sarge, and the Blues.

"Emily! Please slow down!" Doyle shouted.

"Slow down?!" Dr. Grey spluttered breathlessly, "General, the alien weapons, the vehicles, all of the artifacts we've found over the years; they weren't broken! They were just deactivated! And Tucker's sword made them work!"

"For all of two seconds," Sarge muttered half to himself.

"How is that possible?" Kimball asked.

"Well, it's kinda like a sword and a key," Tucker admitted.

Kimball frowned, "What does that even mean?"

"Yeah, I was part of this "Great Prophecy" thing, because I took a sword-key from a tower, and then an alien took me on a quest to get to a ship, but in the end it all turned out to be an excuse to get me knocked up and have an alien baby."

Doyle swapped a very horrified look with Kimball, "You've... reproduced?"

"Heck yeah, Junior is awesome! Check him out in his 5th grade basketball team!" Tucker took out an old photograph and held it up to the camera, showing five kids sitting in a row each holding a basketball, in front of a large aquamarine alien.

"They grow up so fast," he sighed.

Doyle puffed out his cheeks and let out a breath. "Well, that's the last thing I thought I'd see today. Or ever."

"Yeah, I know," Tucker replied, putting away his picture, "Who carries around actual photographs any more?"

Kimball realized she would never look at Tucker the same way again...

"Alright, focus," Wash cut in, "Let's go over what we know."

"Well, whatever Tucker did caused all of our teleportation grenades to explode, fried Charon's weapons and almost got me killed," Simmons glared at the aqua sim-trooper, "Great going, moron."

"Actually, this could be perfect," Carolina said slowly.

"Well, maybe if Simmons had been replaced with Grif," Sarge argued, "And instead of 'almost killed', he was-"

"Stop," Grif interrupted rudely, already knowing where Sarge was going.

"The alien weapons may have been active for a few seconds," Rhode explained, "But Charon's hybrid tech is still inoperable."

"Whatever pieces they took from the alien technology and crammed into their own likely short-circuited the equipment when it tried to come back online," Dr. Grey assumed.

"Which means the Space Pirates ain't got their fancy lasers no more!" Sarge cheered.

"Yeah, but neither do we!" Grif pointed out.

"That doesn't matter," Wash argued.

"Speak for yourself!" Grif argued, "That's two awesome alien weapons I've lost now!"

"Charon has always had the technological advantage over us," Wash explained, "The only reason we've managed to win these last few weeks was because we have them outnumbered."

"And yet we still lose troops with every victory," Doyle sighed glumly.

"True," Kimball admitted, "But now we have them outnumbered and outgunned. Without their toys, they've got nothing more than standard UNSC weaponry. It's an even playing field."

"You know, I've been working with weapons a lot lately," Simmons put in helpfully, "And I'd just like to point out that the standard UNSC weaponry can still put a freaking hole in your skull."

"We've also yet to encounter Locus or Felix since they left," Doyle added.

"We'll deal with them, when the time comes," Wash reassured, "Right, Carolina?"

"Right," Carolina replied hesitantly, "Of course."

Rhode raised an eyebrow but then shook it off, remembering the conversation he had had with her earlier.

"What are you thinking, Kimball?" Epsilon asked.

"Yes, we have been doing well these past few weeks, but we still can't make contact with the UNSC and we have no idea how many jammers Charon installed on Chorus. For all we know, they could have some on the moon," Kimball stood to one side so she could be seen by both parties, "I'm not sure how much longer these small victories will be able to keep our heads above the water, so maybe it's time we aim higher? The tractor beam at Crash Site Alpha are the only things keeping us from leaving the planet."

Doyle gulped nervously, "Y-you can't possibly be suggesting that-"

"If we take them down, we can send a ship for help!" Kimball finished triumphantly.

"The mercs have to know that," Wash pointed out, "Those towers are probably the most heavily defended targets on the planet, especially now."

"Yes, precisely!" Doyle agreed.

"We lose people with every fight. You said so yourself, Donald," Kimball countered, "If we don't make a move now, we're going to keep losing people until there is no one left!"

"Whoa-whoa-whoa, hold up!" Tucker cut in, "What about the map? After that big boy turned off the tower, it showed us a map and some coordinates."

"Tucker's right," Caboose agreed, "It could be buried treasure."

"Or a stockpile of alien weapons that melt your face off!" Sarge added, "Or turn you to stone. Or turn stones into people!"

"They have a point," Carolina conceded, "Taking Crash Site Alpha is possible, but not without heavy losses. Those coordinates could lead to something that might save lives."

"Uh, yeah, 'could'?" Grif asked, ever the doubting Thomas.

"One tower took out all of Charon's weapons," Epsilon reminded them, "There's no telling what another one could do. I mean, come on, if it gives us a way to turn the other tower back on, we can add awesome alien lasers to the armory! We might also win this war!"

"And I get to add another weapon category to the armory spreadsheet," Simmons added excitedly.

"Nerd," Tucker scoffed.

"Organizing data's not nerdy, it's efficient!" Simmons argued, "Come on, Church is a computer. He knows what I'm talking about."

"Yeah, that nerd doesn't speak for me," Epsilon informed Tucker.

"Hey, that reminds me," Grif realized, "If we're here, who's running the armory?"

 **XXX**

 **ARMONIA ARMORY**

Smith drummed his fingers on the counter, waiting for someone to come and take his request, but for the past three hours, none of the Reds had approached him at all.

"Hmmm, the sign says 'open', but no one's here," he murmured.

He looked at the weapons on display, and considered his options. He could either go in and take a weapon for himself, or he could leave and come back later. Both of those options had pros and cons; if he just took a weapon, he would get in trouble. But if he came back later, there would be a long line that would take hours.

After much consideration, Smith made his decision, "I'll give it two more hours."

 **XXX**

"We don't have time to investigate!" Kimball snapped impatiently, "For all we know, Charon's already working on a new batch of rifle replacements."

"Don't have time?" Tucker cried, "We can just fly right over and check it out."

"We already know Locus and Felix have scouts monitoring our activity whenever possible," Wash recalled, "If we send a ship to the middle of nowhere, they'll notice and they'll follow."

"If these coordinates lead to something, we can't afford it falling into Charon's hands," Rhode argued, "We need to send a small team on foot."

"And that will take time that we don't have," Kimball retorted.

"But what if Charon's already there?" Epsilon countered, "What if they've been sitting on this ship for years and we've just turned it on? We gotta find out what's out there, even if it's just to make sure the mercs don't use it against us!"

Doyle gave a loud cough to get their attentions, "I-is it possible to... divide and conquer?"

Wash thought it over then nodded slowly, "Yeah... Carolina could take an away-team out to the coordinates, and Kimball could lead the charge against Alpha."

"Why does Kimball get to lead the charge?" Doyle asked.

Wash raised an eyebrow, knowing the General's weak constitution, "Are you volunteering?"

"Well, I..." Doyle cleared his throat and put on an air of bravado, "Uh, unfortunately we'll need someone to stay behind and guard the capital, and I know this city better than anyone."

"Nice bail," Grif hissed.

"Then it sounds like Kimball's our leader," Wash decided.

"The Feds won't take orders from me," Kimball pointed out.

"They will if their lives are on the line," Wash replied, "I've been training them. Both sides have come a long way, and we need all hands on deck if we wanna pull this off."

"Well, then you can count me and my boys in!" Sarge announced.

"Oooohh..." Grif gave a sheepish grimace, "Uh, we need to work at the armory actually."

"Uh, yeah," Simmons agreed, "Really sorry, guys. I wish we could help."

"Agradable fianza," Lopez muttered, shaking his head. (Nice bail.)

"Well, if you really wanna go," Donut piped in, "Lopez and I can handle the armory."

"Excellent suggestion, Donut!" Sarge commended, "Simmons, looks like you're gonna get to see your fearless colonel on the battlefield after all! I wish you could look through your eyes and see me."

He finished with a chuckle.

"Yaaaay," Simmons murmured unenthusiastically.

"I'm gonna kill you in your sleep," Grif growled at Donut.

"Right," Epsilon declared, clapping his hands together, "Then the rest of us can act as the 'away' team. Tucker brings the sword, Rhode brings the sniper, Grey brings the brains-"

"And I bring the comic relief," Caboose chimed in.

"I was gonna say 'the rifle with auto-targeting software', but sure, why not?" Epsilon added.

At that moment, Freckles suddenly fired another round of confetti with a hoot.

"Sorry," Caboose said.

"Then it's settled," Carolina announced, "We'll hop on the next Pelican to Armonia and head out."

Epsilon nodded with certainty, "And if we play this right, the mercs won't even know what hit 'em."

 **XXX**

Sending the Counselor away to further psychoanalyze Sharkface, Locus and Felix kept looking at the strange image the red light had revealed.

Behind them, a Space Pirate entered the room, looking rather nervous, "We had the scientists check everything. Binary rifles, suppressors; they're all dead. Even the ones on the ship."

"Then send them up here," Locus ordered, "We have another job for them."

"You got it, boss!" The pirate gave a sharp salute then left the room.

Just then, Jackson came back on the radio, "Sir, we just received a communications request from Control. What should I tell him?"

"Tell him we'll call right back," Felix replied after a pause, his eyes never straying from the holographic map floating in front of them...

 **XXX**

 **Aaaaaaaand that ain't good... At all. Till next time guys!**


	7. Chapter 6: Along Came a Spider

**Chapter 6: Along Came a Spider**

All around the city of Armonia, the Federal Army and the New Republic scrambled to get ready for their journey to Crash Site Alpha. With help from the Reds and Washington, everyone was nearly ready to go.

In the garage, Kimball approached two Fed soldiers loading some weapons into a Warthog, "Alright men, let's get this Hog lined up with the others."

"Uh, have you filled out the vehicle request forms?" asked one Fed.

"What are you talking about?" Kimball cried.

"The Federal Army follows a very strict regime when it comes to requesting weapons and vehicles," the second Fed explained.

"Well, this isn't the Federal Army."

"Tell me about it," the first Fed muttered bitterly.

Kimball's eyes narrowed in anger, "Listen, you little-"

"You two!" Washington yelled, coming into the garage, "Why isn't this Warthog over with the rest of the vehicles?"

"Oh, Agent Washington!" the second Fed gasped, snapping to attention.

"We will get right on that, sir," the first Fed agreed.

"Good," Wash nodded as the two Feds climbed into the jeep, "Now, is there anything you feel like you should say to General Kimball?"

The two Feds looked at each other and then down at Kimball.

"Nope!" the first Fed stated, starting the jeep and driving rapidly away.

"Hey!" Wash snapped, running to the entrance.

But the Feds were gone. Wash shook his head with a sigh. He'd offered to stay to with Kimball, partly because of his disciplinary skills, but mostly because for such a dangerous mission, the two armies needed the strategic planning of a Freelancer. The trouble was, the Feds were so used to following Doyle's orders that they weren't too eager to follow anyone else, especially not from the leader of their greatest foes.

"Remind me to put those two on the front line," Kimball growled, visor-palming.

"Don't you start too," Wash warned.

"I told you they won't listen! They're just a bunch of mindless drones that do whatever Doyle tells them to do."

"And you're the leader of the cave-dwelling savages that blow things up to get what they want."

"You know that's not true."

"Well, you haven't done anything to prove them wrong yet, have you?"

Kimball stepped closer to the ex-Freelancer, "Agent Washington, I'd appreciate it if you didn't lecture me on how to make friends with the enemy."

Wash raised an eyebrow, "The enemy?"

"You know what I mean," Kimball sighed, turning away.

Wash sighed and put a hand on her shoulder, "We're all on the same side here, Kimball. Have some faith. If you start believing in them, maybe they'll start believing in you."

"Yeah," Kimball replied slowly, nodding, "Maybe."

At that moment, another jeep drove past the garage.

"Ethcuthe me," called the driver with a pronounced lisp, "Vehicle coming through."

"Please tell me that wasn't Jensen," Wash groaned.

As if in reply, there was suddenly a screech of tires followed by a loud crash.

"OH COME ON!" Simmons yelled out.

"Thorry!" Jensen cried.

Kimball and Wash ran out into the road to find Grif and Simmons standing next to a massive car pile-up. Then they spotted Jensen climbing out of the bottom jeep.

"How?!" Simmons yelled in utter disbelief, "How was that possible?! You were going like five miles an hour!"

"Uh, I'm thorry, thir," Jensen muttered, "Just bad luck, I gueth?"

"Yeah," Palomo groaned, pulling himself out of another wrecked Hog, "Uh, just so you know, I'm fine."

At that moment, another jeep came around the corner, smacking into Palomo as it came to a stop.

"Uh, is this where we are parking the cars?" called Bitters behind the wheel.

 **XXX**

 **CHORUS**

 **UNSETTLED TERRITORY**

"Epsilon?" Carolina called out, "Hey, Church!"

"Huh, what?" Epsilon asked quickly, looking away from the horizon, "What?"

"I said, is this where we're parking?" Carolina stated.

Epsilon took a moment to glance around the jungle clearing that the jeeps had stopped by, "Oh yeah, this is it."

"Sweet, we're here?" Tucker cried, climbing out of the Warthog that he and Caboose were sharing.

"Nah, just a pit stop," Epsilon said as Carolina, Rhode, and Dr. Grey got out their car, "We need to refill the jeeps while we have some cover. There should be some gas cans in the back."

"You told me those were lemonade cans," Caboose said accusingly.

"What?" Epsilon cried, "When?"

"The first week we met."

"Oh," Epsilon chuckled uneasily, "Caboose, have you been drinking-"

"The first gulp was pretty rough," Caboose admitted, "But you know, I didn't want you guys to think you made bad lemonade."

"Well, that explains the crap out of your birthday candles," Rhode said.

"Yeah, I wished I was a dragon," Caboose laughed, "It was the best birthday ever."

As Dr. Grey took out some gas cans from the back of the jeeps and handed them to Tucker, Carolina went over to the edge of the forest that they'd stopped by, "Hey, Epsilon."

"What's up, C?" Epsilon asked, flashing onto her shoulder.

"Wanna run some more equipment training?"

"What? Right now?"

"Might as well while we're stopped. It's good knowing the bubble shield works, but I still feel like my deployment time could be better."

"Carolina, you're fine," Epsilon insisted, "Just relax, alright?"

"But-"

"Hey, hey, Carolina, come on," Epsilon cut in, appearing in front of her visor, "You know how you used to be, okay? You start pushing yourself too far, you're gonna get hurt. And the last thing we need right now is another stupid injury."

Carolina bowed her head, looking down at the leg that Felix had stabbed a few weeks ago, "So come on, take it easy. Loosen up."

"Loosen up, right," Carolina muttered.

Epsilon frowned, "Hey, are you doing okay?"

"Okay," Tucker called out, "We're ready to go."

"Oh, that was fast," Epsilon beamed, "You filled up our car too?"

"Yeah, I gave it to both of them. Bow chicka bow-" Tucker paused when he realized that Carolina was saying his line at the same time.

"Wow... What?" Carolina asked, "That's the joke, right?"

"Did she just say my thing?" Tucker breathed while Rhode stared in shock.

"Um, no," Caboose replied, "Uh, Tucker, that's 'Hey chicka bum bum'. Awkward."

"You said to loosen up!" Carolina hissed to Epsilon.

"That's a little too loose," Rhode mumbled, "Just tighten that back up a little bit."

"I feel violated," Tucker grumbled, as they got back into their cars.

 **XXX**

Many miles away, Felix was also feeling in a very sour mood. Once he and Locus had worked out the coordinates on the map, they'd left Jackson in charge of guarding the tractor beam and taken their teams of scientists on separate Pelicans to their destination. But on the way, Control had called them again, harshly insisting on speaking to them both.

"I can't stand this jerk," Felix muttered crossly.

"He's our employer," Locus reminded him.

"Still a jerk."

"Felix," Locus snapped.

"Whatever," Felix sighed, flicking a switch on the computer terminal, "Let's just get this over with."

The screen on the terminal turned on, eventually showing the image of an office on board the Staff of Charon. In one corner, an assortment of objects could be seen in display cases, including a pistol, a black helmet with a hole in its visor, a purple capsule marked with the epsilon symbol, a massive grenade-launcher with a blade on one end, and a large round monitor. And standing in front of his desk in the middle of the office, looking very impatient and utterly ticked off, was their employer, Chairman Hargrove.

"Control, this is Chorus transmitting on a secure feed, over," Locus announced.

"Locus and Felix," the Chairman stated, notes of irritation lacing his British accented voice, "I was beginning to wonder if you were purposefully neglecting my transmissions."

"What, neglect you?" Felix burst out laughing, in a desperate attempt to hide his seething anger, "Chairman, please! Never in a million years! We were just... kinda in the middle of something."

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, Felix," the Chairman apologized sarcastically, walking towards his desk, "I know exactly how frustrating it is to be interrupted. Just this morning, I met with a client who was very interested in our new Suppressor sub-machine guns..."

At this point, he snatched a very damaged futuristic gun, "...until the bloody thing BLEW UP IN HIS HANDS!"

Felix gave Locus a nervous glance.

He'd been hoping that the freak incident had only occurred across the planet, but now the Chairman had just proven that this wasn't indeed the case, "Gosh, you know, we are so sorry to hear that, sir. But it kinda sounds like you should take that up with your science team."

"Oh I did," the Chairman stated firmly, tossing the rifle aside, "In fact, I spoke with the members stationed with you on Chorus. They seem to believe that the colonists and their heroes-"

he spat out that last word like it tasted poisonous in his mouth, "-are responsible for the incident. Last I checked, you are responsible for them."

"We are taking care of the situation," Locus reassured, as usual unswayed by the Chairman's tones.

"Are you?" the Chairman asked curtly, raising an eyebrow, "When I hired you, I was promised perfection. I was told that you were the best! Everything we had on your backgrounds and previous missions told me, you were the right choice! But, here we are."

"Sir-" Locus began but the Chairman cut him off.

"Is it lack of resources? Are the ships I've redirected to your front door not helpful?! What about the armor enhancements?! Stopping bullets in their tracks, vanishing into thin air; are these gifts not good enough for you?!"

"It's... complicated," Felix muttered weakly.

"No, it isn't! In fact, it's remarkably simple! Everything I've built, everything I've worked towards, rests upon a strong foundation. An intricate web of partners, politicians and clients, each supporting one another. And right now... your thread is straining to support the rest."

The Chairman paused to catch his breath then looked up at the screen with a smile, "I think I know what the problem is. I think, it's your motivation. Clearly your monetary compensation isn't enough. So I'd like to try something different."

He then turned to his computer, "FILSS?"

"Yes, Chairman," came the AI's very submissive reply.

Next to the Chairman, a panel in the floor slid open and a large pod rose up in a cloud of steam.

The Chairman smiled as the glass in the pod parted aside, "Do you have any idea what this is?"

Locus didn't reply immediately, but Felix gasped when he saw the pod's contents. Inside was a full suit of white EVA-Class armor, taller than him, with orange shoulder pads. But it was the helmet that truly gave away its original owner; a large dome of visor-grade glass, making it look more like a fishbowl than the usual helmets the Reds and Blues wore.

"The armor of Freelancer Agent Maine," Locus stated.

"The Meta," Felix breathed.

"Not anymore," the Chairman replied, "This is the future of modern warfare. Active camouflage, enhanced strength, light shields; Dr. Church paired each of his Freelancers with specialized equipment, but with our modifications, this suit contains all of them."

"I thought that wasn't possible," Felix pointed out.

"Not initially," the Chairman admitted, "The armor enhancements had to be removed and studied in secret, so that we could create the modified versions you both carry now. The variations reduced power consumption significantly, solving a large portion of the puzzle."

"But it's still not ready," Locus said.

"No, not yet. Individually our new equipment can be activated without AI assistance, but tests have shown that running multiple enhancements proves to be far more taxing on the mind than we anticipated."

"So what?" Felix asked hopefully, "You want us to capture the Epsilon AI?"

"Recovering Freelancer equipment is always a priority, Felix, but the Epsilon unit is far too old to run this suit properly. I'm doing my best to secure an AI through legitimate means, but even with my political influence, the acts of the late Dr. Church have made AI acquisition an extremely difficult process. But it's only a matter of time..."

The Chairman rubbed his hand on the armor then he turned to the mercs, "Which brings me back to my point. If the two of you can successfully complete your mission before this suit is ready, Charon Industries is willing to lend you the completed model for your own use, as a form of 'field testing'."

"Ho ho, become a one-man walking weapon?" Felix chuckled excitedly, "I like the sound of that!"

The Chairman's face then became so deadly serious that his eyes could penetrate solid steel, "However, if you fail to eliminate the remaining stragglers on Chorus, then we will find another candidate to test the suit. And their first task will be finishing what you started, as well as tying up any loose ends. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," the two mercs replied.

"Good," With a final smile, the Chairman ended the transmission.

"What'd I tell ya?" Felix grunted, "Freaking jerk."

At that moment, they felt the Pelican landing and Felix immediately ran to the back as the ramp opened. He then realized that Locus wasn't following him.

"Hey!" he called out, "Let's see what this map led us to."

"Right," Locus replied, stepping out into the light.

Felix paused for a moment before he exited. In that moment Locus'd spoken, he'd seemed very... distracted. Was he perhaps worried about the Chairman's last warning?

After a while, he shook his head. It was probably nothing. And with that, he stepped out of the Pelican and stood next to Locus, gazing down at the giant alien temple in the middle of a heavy jungle, already swarming with Space Pirates...

 **XXX**

 **Oh no... That definitely ain't good. Till next time guys!**


	8. Chapter 7: Locus of Control

**Chapter 7: Locus of Control**

 **JUNGLE TEMPLE**

Two hours after they'd arrived, Locus and Felix met up with one of the top scientists in the main temple, scanning a huge glowing pillar of light shooting up the middle of the chamber under the watchful eye of a Space Pirate.

"What has your team found?" Locus demanded.

"This is... huh, well," the scientist murmured, putting away his scanner, "Where do I even begin?"

"Well, you could start with what it is," Felix replied.

"We believe it's a central hub," the scientist explained, "Some sort of... device connected to the rest of the temples on the planet. That's our best guess at least, but this energy source in the center is something else."

"Can it be weaponized?" Felix asked hopefully.

"No, no, no, no, no. The energy here is reminiscent of the teleportation devices we studied to make the cubes. We think it's a gateway."

"To where?" Locus asked.

"Well, that is the question of the day now, isn't it?"

Felix glanced up at the gateway, "So... anyone care to make the first step?"

"I would... not advise that," the scientist warned, stepping in front of the mercs, "We have been doing our best to decipher the text inscribed on the temple walls. It's all very biblical in tone, lots of symbolism; but it does seem this gateway has some... well, rules."

Locus raised an eyebrow, "Rules?"

"The text is very specific. Only a true warrior may enter; a being of great strength and mental clarity."

"And what would happen to a man who fails these requirements?"

"We don't know," the scientist admitted.

Without a word, Felix turned to the Space Pirate and kicked him right into the gateway, where he disappeared in a flash of light. "Guess we'll find out."

 **XXX**

 **CRASH SITE ALPHA**

The Counselor watched in silence as Sharkface finished the work on his armor. The Space Pirates had provided the ex-Insurrectionist with a suit of steel-gray armor and he'd managed to find some red spray-paint to add some trim, just like his original armor. He'd even discovered some shark teeth decals which he'd stuck to the top and bottom of his visor.

"Are you finished?" the Counselor asked.

"Almost," Sharkface purred menacingly, stretching out his arm, "But you can't rush art, Counselor..."

He then picked up another spray-can, shook it and started spraying a red stripe on his helmet.

The Counselor gave a slow nod, "You find working with tools to be therapeutic?"

"Therapeutic?" Sharkface asked, pausing in his work.

"Relaxing. Does it help to cope-"

"I know what 'therapeutic' means," Sharkface snapped, "And no, not really."

"Let's change the subject," the Counselor decided, "I trust you've reviewed the reports on Agents Washington, Rhode Island, and Carolina?"

"Yup."

"Excellent. Did you have any questions?"

"No."

"Good," the Counselor sighed with some disappointment, "Then why don't we go over the mission briefing again?"

"The mercs want the Freelancers dead, so they got me to do it," Sharkface replied simply, "Briefing over."

The Counselor frowned, "There is no need for hostility."

"I beg to differ," Sharkface turned around and glared at the Counselor with narrowed eyes, "See, those super-soldier freaks dropped a building on me. They left me for dead, and then they killed my friends. They took away the only family I ever had while I was in physical freaking therapy. There's plenty of need for hostility here, Counselor."

The Counselor's expression didn't change, "Then perhaps... you should do your best to channel that energy."

Sharkface just snorted and turned back to his workbench.

He picked up his helmet and was about to put it on when he suddenly had a thought, "You know, I do have a question..."

Putting the helmet down again, he turned back to the Counselor, "How did you end up on a ship full of killers? You don't look like a criminal to me."

"Let's not get off topic," the Counselor replied hesitantly.

Sharkface's eyes narrowed, "I wanna know."

The Counselor met his look for a moment then turned away with a sigh, "I believed in the wrong people. By the time I realized it... the damage was already done."

It was true, he remembered. Shortly after Agent Washington had wiped out the AI in Project Freelancer, the UNSC had been quick to arrest the Director and the Counselor for the misuse of government property and the unethical treatment of artificial intelligence. Somehow the Director had been able to escape from prison, and so had Washington too, but neither of them had even thought about the Counselor, leaving him to rot for their crimes.

"And what would you do, if those people were here now?" Sharkface goaded, "Would you kill 'em?"

For the first time in his life, the Counselor felt a deep sense of bitterness towards those he had called colleagues, "If it meant getting my life back, I would."

Sharkface gave a nasty chuckle.

"Well then," he growled, picking up his helmet and putting it on, "I guess you belong here after all."

The Counselor didn't reply, as Sharkface then reached for his assault rifle...

 **XXX**

In another flash of light, the Space Pirate stumbled out of the beam, screaming in terror.

Then he turned around and saw Locus and Felix, "Oh God, I'm back! I'm back!"

"Guess I owe you fifty bucks," Felix sighed at the scientist.

Locus approached the panicked Pirate, "What happened?"

"I saw... terrible things," the Pirate panted heavily, rubbing his hands over his arms, "People I've killed..."

"Oh man," Felix groaned, "If we're gonna meet every person we've wronged or some crap, it's gonna take forever."

"Quiet," Locus snapped.

"Seriously, dude. I'm talking weeks!"

The scientist took out his scanner, switched it to medical settings and swept its light over the Pirate, "Well, aside from his scares, his vitals seem perfectly normal."

Locus turned to the beam, "Then I'm going in."

"What? Now?" Felix gasped.

"We're already low on time," Locus replied, stepping closer to the beam, "I can get what we came for."

"Oh, bullcrap!" Felix snapped, grabbing Locus' shoulder and spinning him round, "I know what this is about! How do you know I'm not the 'true warrior'?"

"Because you're you," Locus retorted.

"Yeah, and being me is awesome!"

Locus didn't reply, but Felix could tell that he was not convinced.

"Alright, look," he sighed, "Why don't we both go in and let the giant alien thing decide?"

"Fine," Locus replied, turning back to the beam.

"Good," Felix said, stepping next to him, "Just don't cry to me when you lose."

"I won't."

Felix turned to him and raised an eyebrow.

"Er, lose," Locus hastily corrected, "I-I won't lose."

"Too late, messed it up," Felix chuckled.

With that, he stepped right into the beam and disappeared. Locus then ran after him, vanishing too.

 **XXX**

When Locus opened his eyes, the first thing he discovered was that he was standing on a platform overlooking a planet in space. He didn't know if this was Chorus or some other distant world. The second thing he realized was that he was alone.

"Felix, come in," Locus called over his radio, but got no answer.

He could hear noises approaching so he activated his cloaking device. Unfortunately, it only worked for a few seconds before it switched off.

As Locus made his way across the platform, he tried his radio again, "Felix, I've made it through the gateway. Equipment is malfunctioning. If you can hear this-"

"SHALOUKUUAA," The loud alien voice echoed around him like thunder.

Locus looked around, trying to find the source, but saw nobody, "SURAKIE SUTO YOH?"

"I don't understand," he called out.

The voice spoke again, but this time in English, "WHO... ARE... YOU?"

"Freeze!" came another more human voice.

Locus turned around and saw a soldier in tan Aviator-Class armor with green trim pointing his gun at him, "What?"

Then three more soldiers appeared around him, wearing Warrior, Recruit, and Scanner armor respectively, colored the same as the first soldier.

"Don't move!"

"Don't you dare move!"

"Lower your weapon or we will shoot!"

"Put the weapon down!"

As Locus reluctantly obeyed, another soldier, this one in Hazop armor, appeared on the podium above him, "What do we have here, men?"

"Caught us a monster, Captain," Aviator replied, "I think it understands what we're saying."

"Really?" the Captain asked before turning to Locus, who was utterly confused, "Then how about you tell us what you're doing here?"

"I... came through the gateway," Locus started to explain.

"Speak English!" snapped Warrior.

"What?" Locus turned to the soldier, but then something hit him, "Wait... I know you."

"Why is it looking at me?!" cried Warrior in distraught.

"Maybe you're just its type," came a familiar mocking voice.

"No..." Locus gasped, turning towards the voice's owner, "Felix..."

And there he was, next to the Captain, but his Scout armor was tan-and-green like the others instead of gray-and-orange. It was at that moment that Locus realized that these soldiers around him were the regiment him and Felix were assigned to during the Great War.

"I say we blow its brains out," Felix decided in a cold manner.

"That's your answer to everything," came another familiar voice.

"Impossible..." Locus muttered, as from the Captain's opposite side, came another soldier in tan-and-green armor, tan-and-green Locus-Class armor.

It was himself.

"Hey!" the Captain snapped, breaking Locus' thoughts, "You quit eyeballing my men and give me some answers. Are you alone?"

"I-I don't understand," Locus stammered, "You're all supposed to be dead!"

"What's it saying?" Aviator demanded.

Locus didn't hear him as he looked at his past self, "You're me."

"Sir, I think it's trying to surrender," his past self said slowly.

"Bullcrap, I think it's stalling!" Felix snapped, "Sir, this feels like a trap."

"Why don't you recognize me?" Locus called to his 'colleague'.

The Captain ignored him as he turned to Felix, "Private, I did not ask you for your opinion-"

At this point, Locus' sense of reason, already strained like a tightened string, finally snapped, "Listen to me!"

"Hey, watch it!" Warrior yelled, raising his rifle.

"It's getting hostile!" Aviator called.

"Sir, this thing's wasting our time and we're in no position to start taking prisoners," Felix said.

"Fine," the Captain sighed, "You two, move into one of these buildings and take it out, quietly."

"What?" Locus' gasped.

"Sir, it's scared," his past self replied.

"If it's smart, it should be," the Captain said with a hidden sneer.

"If we could restrain it, we could-"

"Son, you listen here!" the Captain interrupted sharply.

Locus flinched inwardly, realizing what the Captain was about to say before he even said it, "No."

"You're a soldier!" the Captain yelled, unaware of Locus' movements, "In this war, you are nothing but a suit of armor and a gun! So when I give you an order, you better follow it! Do I make myself clear?!"

At once, Locus' temper flared out like a volcano and he raised his gun again, aiming it at the Captain, "NO!"

"Drop 'em!" Felix yelled.

The next thing Locus knew, the other soldiers opened fire on him...

 **XXX**

With a gasp, Locus opened his eyes and found himself back in the temple.

"Locus!" Felix called out, "It's about time- Hey!"

He gasped as Locus drew out his shotgun and pointed it at him. Quickly, he raised his DMR at him.

"What did you see?" Locus demanded.

"Calm down, moron, you're fine," Felix reassured tentatively, "It was an illusion, a trick!"

"What did you see?!"

"Hmph," Felix snorted, "Well, if you must know, I didn't see a thing. I passed the test. Turns out I'm a true warrior."

"What?" Locus gasped in disbelief, lowering his gun.

"Nah, I'm kidding," Felix admitted glumly, "It was messed up. Saw stuff straight out of my nightmares."

Locus punched Felix in the chest, very hard, "Do you think this is a joke?"

"No, but Intel says we're out of time, so you can whine about it later. Right now, we need to move to Plan B."

Felix turned to the scientist and his Pirate escort, "Everyone, pack it up! Leave no trace we were here. I mean it. If I catch one thing left behind, someone's getting thrown off the Pelican!"

With nervous nods, the two soldiers ran off to obey.

Felix made to follow them, but then saw Locus staring at the beam, "Hey! Get it together."

As Locus nodded, he turned and left the room with a mocking snort, "True warrior."

Locus turned to look at the beam one last time. He couldn't be sure whether it was his biggest nightmare he'd seen in there or some other alien trickery, but he knew one thing: if he or Felix were unable to get through the gateway, he doubted that any of the Reds and Blues would do it. But if they did, the Chairman would not be very pleased with the news. With that thought still in mind, he turned and left the chamber.

 **XXX**

Five hours after the Pirates had left the temple, Carolina, Rhode, Dr. Grey, and the Blues pulled up outside it and stared in amazement at the giant beam shooting out of its spire.

"Holy crap!" Tucker breathed.

"I think it's safe to say we're here," Rhode agreed.

Carolina nodded slowly, "And not a moment too soon."

 **XXX**

 **Weeeeelllllll... Actually a few hours too late, but yeah. Till next time guys!**


	9. Chapter 8: Test Your Might

**Chapter 8: Test Your Might**

 **ABANDONED FUELING STATION**

After a long and uneventful journey across the desert, the united armies of Chorus pulled up at the empty fueling to fill up their vehicles for their final stretch to Crash Site Alpha. While Washington and Kimball helped the Feds and the Rebels with their jeeps and tanks, the Reds waited by the entrance to secure the perimeter, arguing as they watched.

"Now look," Sarge said to Grif, "The fact of the matter is, the ability to fly north, and only north, is just gonna lead to more problems than it solves."

"Thank you!" Simmons cried, happy that Sarge was seeing his side of the discussion.

"Whatever," Grif sighed, opening another packet of crisps that he'd swiped from the station's shop, "This road trip sucks!"

"Nonsense," Sarge retorted, "Road trips are an inherent part of the Red Team experience. Enjoy the exotic sights and sounds of this beautiful, albeit war-torn, land."

"It's a gas station, that we've been to before!" Grif shook his head, "Seriously, there's like three places to go on the whole planet!"

At that moment, Washington joined the Reds, "Alright, almost time to hit the road again."

"Any word from the away team?" Simmons asked.

"They found some sort of giant alien temple shooting pure energy into the sky."

"What I tell ya?" Grif stated through a mouthful of crisps, "Blue Team problems."

Wash smiled, "You know, I think it's really admirable that you all choose to stay and fight for the people of Chorus."

"Oh, thanks, Wash," Simmons replied, touched at those words.

"When I first met you all, I honestly thought you'd never amount to anything but you've really proven me wrong."

"Uhhhh, cool," Grif said uncertainly, "Thanks, dude."

"Sure, you may not be the most conventional soldiers, but no matter the challenge, you always manage to find a way to come out on top. And that's something really special."

Sarge's eyes narrowed in suspicion, "What's going on with you?"

"Me?" Wash asked innocently, "Nothing."

"No, you're acting really weird," Simmons said slowly.

"I just want you all to know how much I appreciate you," Wash insisted, "That's it."

"Oh my God," Grif gasped, "You think we're gonna die!"

"What? No I don't!" Wash argued.

"No you do," Grif yelled accusingly, "You definitely do! You're getting all sentimental and stuff!"

"No, guys, come on," Wash reassured, "You'll be fine, I've got total faith in you. You're some of the best soldiers I ever knew."

"What the crap is that past tense stuff!?" Simmons cried, shocked by Grif's words.

"Look, I just want you to know, I'm proud of you," Wash patted Grif's and Simmons' shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting manner, "I'm sure if you stick together, you'll be okay."

He then turned to Sarge, "What unit are you with?"

"Volunteered for the front lines!" Sarge replied.

"Oh," Wash said, now no longer reassured.

"You WHAT?!" Grif screamed.

"SARGE!" Simmons yelled.

Wash gave a grim shrug, "Well, look on the bright side..."

Grif swapped a nervous look with Simmons then turned to Wash, "You know, if you say that, you're supposed to follow it up with the bright side."

"I know," Wash sighed.

 **XXX**

 **JUNGLE TEMPLE**

"A true warrior?" Epsilon asked as he, Carolina and the Blues stared at the massive gateway before them.

"Of physical strength and mental clarity," Dr. Grey replied.

Like the Charon scientists, she had immediately set herself to the task of translating the text on the temple walls, and had now explained to the others about the test that awaited them in the gateway.

"Well, it's a good thing I'm here," Tucker stated, approaching the gate.

"That's cute," Carolina scoffed.

"What? Obviously I'm a true warrior, "Tucker took his signature weapon off his belt, "Plus, I got the sword. That means I'm the chosen one."

"Finding a sword in a hole doesn't automatically make you unstoppable," Epsilon pointed out.

"Oh, why don't you tell that to the last alien temple I lit up?" Tucker retorted.

"Tucker has a point," Dr. Grey conceded, "It's possible that merely carrying the sword through the portal will override the need to be strong and intelligent."

"Yeah!" Tucker agreed then he frowned, "Wait, I'm strong and intelligent."

"Eh, you have your moments," Caboose replied.

"Well, we're low on time and it's the best thing we've got," Rhode decided.

"Fine," Carolina sighed, patting Tucker's shoulder, "Just... be careful."

"Nothing to worry about, baby," Tucker replied, switching on his sword with a flourish, "I am a true freaking warrior."

With that, he charged straight into the gateway with a yell... and literally a split-second later, was thrown straight out again into a rock.

"Whoa!" Tucker gasped, sitting up in alarm, "What happened?"

"Wow," Epsilon said simply.

"Apparently, you're not a true warrior," Carolina agreed.

"Or maybe he's so good he passed the test super fast," Caboose added.

Dr. Grey was quickly at Tucker's side, helping to his feet, "What did you see? Tell me about the other side. Did you make contact? Oh, and how are you feeling?"

Tucker shook his head to clear it, "I saw Felix."

"The mercenaries were already there?" Carolina gasped.

"Well, I don't think it was really him," Tucker admitted, "He showed up, then another Felix showed up. And the next thing I know, there were a million of them all over me. Same thing with Locus. I couldn't fight them off!"

"You weren't strong enough," Dr. Grey deduced.

"Well, I am," Carolina stated, taking out her battle rifle, "And I've been waiting for a rematch."

And before anyone could argue, she turned and ran into the gateway.

 **XXX**

When Carolina opened her eyes, she found herself on a platform in orbit over a planet, which she assumed was Chorus, "Epsilon, you seeing this?"

But there was no reply.

Carolina raised her rifle as she set off along the passageway, "Epsilon?"

Just then, she heard a loud booming voice echoing around the platform, "WHO... ARE... YOU?"

"I'm your true warrior," she replied, unnerved.

"Actually, that would be me," came a voice she hadn't heard in a long time.

Carolina whirled round as a figure dressed in black armor came around the corner.

She lowered her gun in horror, recognizing the figure immediately, "Tex?"

"Hey there, Carolina," said another familiar voice, this one from above her. Carolina turned again, and stepped back in shock as she saw what was up there.

Seven other figures stood on a platform above her, each of them carrying different guns. Some regarded Carolina with friendly smiles; others had a more sinister aura about them. But she knew each and every one of them instantly - York, the Dakotas, Maine, Wyoming, C.T., and Florida; her fellow agents from Project Freelancer.

 **XXX**

"I said I don't want to talk about it," Carolina snapped at the others once she was back in the temple.

"Carolina, all I saw, when I went through, was static," Epsilon replied, "You gotta tell us more! You saw the Freelancers, then what happened? Was there crazy karate? Big gunfight?"

"No, there was no fighting. They just..." Carolina broke off with a sigh, "Look, it doesn't matter."

"See?" Tucker cried, "Not as easy as it looks, huh?"

Carolina grabbed him by his chest-plate and pulled him close to her visor. "I will throw you right back through that portal if you don't-"

"Okay, happy thoughts!" Dr. Grey cut in, pushing them apart, "Happy thoughts!"

"Man, whatever," Tucker grunted.

Rhode said nothing, but looked at her in confusion. What did she see that would get her this shaken up?

"We can't give up hope," Dr. Grey insisted, "The government spent ample time studying these relics and we've only been here a few hours!"

"Did they make any progress?" Tucker asked.

"Actually they got fed up and abandoned all of their work." Dr. Grey pointed to a crate by the wall, on which was stuck a note that read 'Will return in: SCREW YOU!'

"Great," Tucker muttered sarcastically, "Super inspiring."

"I just wish the inscriptions weren't so vague," Epsilon sighed, shaking his head, "True warrior? Mental clarity? What does that even mean?"

"Uh, yeah," Caboose chimed in, "I'm pretty sure it's the opposite of false warrior. Duh."

"Caboose, not now," Rhode groaned.

"Yeah, I'm just saying we can at least cross that off the list, you know."

"Caboose," Carolina warned in annoyance.

"The false warrior, that is."

"CABOOSE!" the others yelled.

"Well, excuse me for trying to help!" Caboose grunted, "I am going to go find the bathroom."

With that, he turned and set off down the passage.

Epsilon pinched the middle of his visor, "Jesus, that empty-headed little..."

He paused and looked up, "Wait a minute. Empty-head."

Carolina and Rhode swapped baffled looks and Tucker just stared in disbelief, "No way."

 **XXX**

"Hey, this isn't the bathroom," Caboose said when his friends pushed him in.

"WHO... ARE... YOU?" The voice demanded, raising its voice like before, almost sounding bored.

"I'm Caboose," Caboose replied, without any tremor in his voice.

"Hmm," It murmured, "You... are not like the others."

"Yeah, I'm blue," Caboose agreed.

"Your mind lacks fear. Doubt is non-existent. Completely absent of negativity."

"I'm sorry, what?" Caboose asked, "You were saying something?"

"And your strength..."

"Yeah, I have been told that I am an excellent listener."

"I've increased the gravity tenfold since you've arrived."

Caboose frowned, "What's a tenfold?"

"You... haven't noticed?" The voice said in surprise.

"What a tenfold is?" Caboose asked, "You know, I-I don't know you. You're the one who brought it up."

"Hmm... Then it seems that you..." The voice said and appeared before Caboose, "are a true warrior."

When Caboose saw him for the first time, he responded in a way that most people like him would react in moments like this, "Neat."

 **XXX**

Tucker, Carolina, Rhode, Epsilon, and Dr. Grey waited by the gateway, looking for any sign that their gambit was paying off.

Then at last, in a flash of light, Caboose reappeared, "And we're back!"

"Caboose!" Carolina cried in relief.

"Are you okay?" Dr. Grey asked.

"What happened?" Rhode demanded.

"Ah, well, ah, yeah I went to the bathroom," Caboose replied, stepping to one side of the gate, "And then I met an alien and we became friends and he told me everything about the universe and the meaning of life and then-"

"Wait!" Tucker interrupted quickly, "An alien?"

At that moment, in another flash of light, a tall red alien figure appeared behind Caboose.

"Greetings," it said in a deep baritone voice.

"Whoa!" gasped Epsilon, Tucker, and Dr. Grey, jumping back in surprise.

"Jesus!" Carolina cried, raising her gun.

"Holy crap!" Rhode jumped.

"My apologies," the alien said, "But is there anyone else I could speak to? Perhaps someone with a broader vocabulary?"

Carolina lowered her gun slowly as she regarded the glowing alien, "Who- What are you?"

Epsilon, recovering from his shock, did a quick scan of the newcomer, "He's an AI!"

"Correct," the alien replied, "I'm a construct left behind by my Creators to ensure that their gifts are passed on only to those who are worthy."

"Yes," Caboose agreed, "And that is why I have named him... Santa!"

Rhode's face fell, "...Santa."

"Santa," Caboose replied with a nod.

"Santa?" Tucker spluttered.

"Yes, Santa," Caboose repeated.

"Santa," the alien AI echoed.

Everyone was silent as they considered the name.

"Santa, the alien AI construct," Epsilon stated simply.

In response, the red AI went down on one knee and bowed its head to the Blues and Dr. Grey.

"It is an honor to meet you, noble warriors," said Santa.

 **XXX**

 ***Face-Palm* Only Caboose would name this thing Santa... Till next time guys!**


	10. Chapter 9: You Better Watch Out

**Chapter 9: You Better Watch Out**

The assault team were now just a few miles away from Crash Site Alpha, making their way across uncharted territory. At the head of the army was Kimball and two of her top-ranking soldiers.

Just then, the radio in the jeep switched on as one of the radio operators in Armonia made his call, "General Kimball, we've just got word from the away team."

"What's the news?" Kimball asked, keeping her eyes on the horizon as she drove.

The soldier looked somewhat confused, "Well... apparently they found Santa."

At this, Kimball slammed her foot on the brakes, bringing the Warthog to an abrupt halt and making everyone else behind her stop too.

 **XXX**

Having made her rather awkward report, Carolina rejoined the Blues and Dr. Grey, still gathered next to Santa, "Well, she didn't believe me at first, but Kimball's moving ahead with the assault. They should be reaching Alpha any minute."

"Then we gotta hurry," Rhode said.

"Are you sure there is no end to your questions?" Santa asked.

"You have no idea," Dr. Grey drooled.

"Alright, let's not start foaming at the mouth here," Epsilon muttered.

"I can foam whenever I want, thank you very much!" Dr. Grey snapped.

Santa cleared his throat, "The legacy of my Creators is scattered throughout the galaxy. Their history, their technology, all left behind for future species to discover. This planet, the one you've claimed as Chorus, was one of great importance. It is here that they've kept some of their most valued treasures."

"What kind of treasures we talking about? Like Indiana Jones Golden Island treasures?" Tucker then gave an annoyed moan, "Or is it some stupid metaphorical stuff like 'the real treasure was friendship the whole time'?"

"My creators bequeathed many gifts, and you will find each locked away with a temple," Santa turned to the aqua sim-trooper, "Lavernius Tucker, you triggered the Temple of Arms. With its power, you reactivated combat vehicles, weaponry and a myriad of other technological models from the time long past. These are merely a fraction of the gifts left behind by my Creator."

"That's amazing!" Dr. Grey squealed.

"So then why'd you turn it off?" Tucker asked.

"I encountered an anomaly," Santa explained, "The temples on this planet can only be activated with a key wielded by a true warrior. However, some time ago, one of my temples was meddled with."

"I wonder who that could've been," Carolina murmured sarcastically.

"Probably Space Pirates," Caboose replied.

"She was being facetious," Rhode retorted.

"Dude, making up words is not gonna make you sound smarter," Tucker grunted.

"FOCUS!" Dr. Grey yelled and everyone stood at attention.

"The temple was designed to form a defensive barrier around the planet by manipulating gravity," Santa continued, "The meddlers managed to circumvent my security measures and partially activated the temple, giving them moderate control over the planet's gravitational field."

"Tell him how the elves are involved, Santa," Caboose said.

"He's talking about the tractor beams," Epsilon realized.

"This act should have been impossible without the Great Key..." Santa turned back to Tucker, "Which brings me to you."

"Me?" Tucker cried.

"I sensed your Key's power at the Temple of Arms and allowed you to activate it, but when you did not respond in the voice of my people, protocol insisted I bring you here for further testing."

"Sorry, dude," Tucker replied, remembering Sarge's harsh words and the the severe beating that came with it, "The only language I speak is American."

"Weren't you an alien ambassador?" Rhode recalled.

"I never said I was a good ambassador," Tucker admitted.

"But why test us if Tucker already has the sword, or key?" Dr. Grey asked.

Santa's face became serious, "Because my records state that the Great Key of this planet has yet to be claimed."

"Wait!" Tucker cut in quickly, "There's another key?!"

"Of course! In case you lock one in the car!" Caboose replied, "My God, they have thought of everything!"

"Dibs!" Rhode blurted out.

"It lies in a mountain temple to the east," Santa replied, "After the security failure, I had to be sure that the presence of two keys was not an error in my programming. It is now clear to me, that although your key comes from another world, it was in fact forged by my Creators, and is therefore acceptable."

"Sweet!" Tucker cheered, "Then that means we can go back to our tower and turn it on."

"Alien weaponry for everyone!" Dr. Grey shouted.

"And you said that was only a fraction of the stuff that's here, right?" Epsilon asked.

"Correct," Santa replied.

Carolina swapped a look with Rhode, "Well... not to sound greedy, but... uh..."

"What else you got?" Rhode finished the thought.

"Yeah," Carolina said.

"Hmm..." Santa paused to look through his database, "There is the Temple of Weather Manipulation, Bountiful Harvest, Interior Decorating, Procreation, Communication-"

"Wait," Epsilon cut in, "What was that last one?"

"Communication," Santa replied, "Activating this temple will allow you to send a message to virtually any communication device in the galaxy."

"And what was the one before that?" Tucker asked.

"Procreation. Activating this temple will throw the inhabitants of Chorus into a ravenous sexual frenzy with the intent to increase a potentially dwindling population."

Carolina glanced at the Blues and grimaced, "We... won't be needing that one."

"Well, let's not rule anything out," Tucker chuckled.

"Yo, alien dude!" Epsilon started to say.

"Santa," the alien AI corrected.

"I refuse to call you that," Epsilon muttered, "Look, we actually need to transmit a message to Earth, but there's been a bunch of radio jammers keeping it from getting out. You think this temple thing will be strong enough to break through them?"

"Without question," Santa replied.

"Well then, that's it!" Epsilon cried, turning to the others, "We don't need a full-on assault! We don't even need alien weaponry! We just gotta activate that temple and call for help."

"Then let's radio Kimball and get out of here," Carolina decided, turning to leave.

"Wait!" Santa called out, "Before you leave, I must warn you. The gifts left behind by my Creators are immensely powerful. If taken by those less worthy, the results could be catastrophic. Which is why my Creators constructed... the Purge."

"That doesn't sound ominous at all," Rhode muttered sarcastically.

"As its bearer, Tucker, the Great Key will remain bonded to you and you alone until the time of your death. If you believe the inhabitants of this planet are not ready for my Creator's gifts, activating the Purge will cleanse them."

"And by 'cleanse', you mean...?" Carolina hinted.

"All sentient life on Chorus will be exterminated."

Tucker gulped loudly, "Dude. Buzzkill."

"And... where exactly is this thing?" Epsilon asked.

"Here," Santa brought up the holographic map, a red dot flashing at a point east of their location, "I will also update all previously sent maps with temple locations."

"Thanks. Look, Carolina, we gotta-" Rhode suddenly paused and turned back to Santa, "Wait. What do you mean 'maps'?"

"The maps that were sent to the temples," Santa replied.

"...All of the temples?"

"Of course."

Rhode turned to Carolina with a growing sense of dread, "Oh no..."

Suddenly, four Space Pirates came charging into the chamber, their weapons drawn.

"Carolina!" Epsilon yelled.

As the Space Pirates opened fire, Tucker closed his eyes and looked away, expecting to feel the bullets tearing him and the others to pieces.

But nothing happened.

Cautiously, Tucker forced open one eye... and found a huge bubble of energy surrounding him and the others. Then he saw Carolina and Epsilon standing in front of him, their arms outstretched as if they were holding up the shield.

In front of her, though, was Rhode, who had set up his hardlight shield, intending to block the bullets that would have hit her, but he apparently didn't count on her pulling out the bubble shield. Carolina was a bit startled when she realized that, but kept the shield up.

"Man, that was close," Caboose breathed.

"AFFIRMATIVE," Freckles agreed.

"Charon's here?" Dr. Grey whimpered with fright.

"They've been here the whole time," Epsilon growled.

"That's right," came a voice none of them had heard before.

The Blues looked up as a soldier in black armor trimmed with red stepped out onto the ramp above them.

Neither the Blues nor Dr. Grey knew who this guy was, but the moment he saw the sharp teeth decals on his visor and the shark face painted on his assault rifle, Rhode narrowed his eyes, "It can't be..."

"And now, thanks to you," Sharkface continued, ignoring Rhode, "we've got all the intel we need."

"What are you talking about?" Tucker demanded.

Sharkface turned to the Space Pirates, "As soon as their shield falls, open fire. Just leave the Freelancers alive for me."

"You really think four people are enough to stop us?" Carolina called out mockingly.

"You're only safe for as long as that shield stays up," Sharkface retorted, "Then you've got no cover and a failing AI. So yeah, I do."

"What is he talking about, Epsilon?" Carolina asked.

"Besides," Sharkface continued, "the rest of our guys are prepping for your friends at Alpha."

"What?!" Dr. Grey cried in horror.

"I hope you said something meaningful the last time you saw them," Sharkface called over his shoulder as he left the chamber, "'Cause you won't be seeing them again."

Tucker and Caboose swapped helpless looks, fearing for the safety of their friends. Rhode growled at his suspicion of who this guy was, but then looked over at Carolina and was quick to notice that her arms were already starting to shake...

 **XXX**

 **CRASH SITE ALPHA**

On the grounds of the temple, the Space Pirates were on patrol, keeping an eye out for any signs of attack. But for the moment, the plains were silent... but not for long.

A patrolling pair of Pirates were marching past the entrance to a cave when one of them paused as she heard some music coming from the cave, faintly at first but getting steadily louder, "Do you... hear something?"

"YEEEEE-HAAAAAWWWWWW!"

Suddenly, a convoy of Warthog jeeps came barreling out of the cave towards them. The Pirate was quick to find that the ranchero music was coming out of the jeep that had red stripes painted on the bonnet.

"Enemy sighted!" she yelled as she and her partner raised their guns.

Throwing the wheel round, Grif sent their Warthog into a swerve, running over the Pirates as it came to a halt.

"Ya see?" Sarge whooped as the Feds and Rebels drove past them into battle, "I told you the front line is where the action is! Ha ha!"

"That's why we didn't wanna be here!" Simmons yelled from his usual spot on the turret.

"Ah nonsense," Sarge then got on the radio to Kimball, "This is Colonel Sarge. We have engaged the enemy, for a short courtship of blood!"

On the outskirts of the battle, Kimball received the news, "Copy that, Red Leader! Good work."

Ending the call, she turned to her team, "All squads remember your sectors! We've got multiple towers to take down and numerous-"

Suddenly, a huge shadow fell over them, darkening the battlefield. Every member of the assault team paused in their invasion and slowly craned their necks up to the sky, while the Pirates just swapped knowing looks.

Then, like a mighty whale breaching an upside-down sea, a massive spaceship burst out of the clouds, hovering low over the tower. On one side, the Reds could see the ship's name: TARTARUS.

"Oh... just kill me," Grif groaned.

On both sides of the Tartarus, several doors slid open and hordes of Space Pirates jumped out of the ship, activating jetpacks at the last second to land safely in the battlefield.

At the other side of the cave, Washington and the squad members all stared in horror as the Pirates surrounded them.

"Take 'em out!" yelled one Pirate and the others charged into the fray, guns blazing.

"Ahh! I-it's a trap!" Palomo squealed, ducking behind Jensen, "Why is it always a trap?!"

"They're cutting off our escape!" Wash yelled as he, Bitters and Smith returned fire.

Kimball dived for cover as the Pirates attacked her side, wiping out most of her squad, "Where did they get more men?!"

At that moment, her radio switched on and Felix's voice tutted condescendingly, "Come on, Vanessa, give me a little credit. I was your right hand man for years. You really didn't think I'd see this coming?"

Kimball's eyes narrowed in unbridled fury. "You little-"

 **XXX**

In the ruins of the Blood Gulch Crew's transport ship, Felix switched off his radio, cutting Kimball's infuriated curses short, "Man, she sure can bear a grudge."

Then his radio switched on again, this time by Sharkface, "Locus, Felix, I've got some news that's gonna make your day."

Locus turned on his comm, "Report."

"What if I told you I found a way to kill everyone on Chorus with the turn of a key?" Sharkface replied mysteriously, "And what if I told you I was heading to that key right now?"

Felix gave a huge grin like a Cheshire Cat, "I'd say you're gonna need backup."

"Take a Pelican!" Locus ordered, firing another shot from his sniper rifle, "I've got Alpha covered!"

"Right," Felix replied, racing out of the ship.

Locus set his sights on a retreating Fed and was about to gun him down when Felix called him on his radio, "Oh, Locus."

"What?" Locus snapped, keeping his eye on the Fed.

"When you kill Kimball, go ahead and do it quick. We were friends after all."

With a nod, Locus ended the call and then shot the Fed down. Then he activated his cloaking device and set off towards the tower.

 **XXX**

 **ARMONIA**

 **WAR ROOM**

General Doyle paced slowly around the room, waiting for news from either of the teams. So far, he'd heard that the away team had apparently met 'Santa' and that Kimball was going on with the attack regardless.

Just then, the radio for the assault team switched on, "Mayday! Mayday! This is Vanessa Kimball to Armonia! We need immediate ground support! Please respond! Over!"

Doyle immediately came running, "What the devil is happening out there?"

"Doyle, pick up the stupid radio!" Kimball yelled.

"Good Lord," Doyle cleared his throat then switched on the radio, "Uh, yes Kimball! What is it?"

"The whole thing was a set-up!" Kimball replied urgently, "Charon's got way more men that we were led to believe! They've got a ship, they ambushed us!"

Doyle gulped nervously, "Uh... There, there, now. I'm sure everything will be fine."

"NO! It will not be fine!" Kimball bellowed, "Forget the Capital, I need you to round up as many troops as you can and send them our way. Don't need to keep quiet, just take the Pelicans and make sure you're out of range of tractor beams."

"Um, yes, of course," Doyle replied, turning to go.

But then, the away team's radio switched on, "Doyle, wait! Can you hear me?"

Doyle whirled round and turned on the radio, "Agent Carolina?"

"I know Kimball needs those reinforcements, but we need them first," Carolina ordered.

"I-I beg your pardon?" Doyle stammered.

"We're pinned down," Carolina explained, "I need you to send a squad to the mountains east of our location. Charon's already on their way there and we have to beat them to it."

"Carolina, what are you talking about?" Kimball asked, "Beat them to what?"

"To a key that's going to end the world."

Doyle swapped baffled looks with his two technicians, "Right... You're going to have to run that by me again."

 **XXX**

 **The stakes have been raised to a whole new level. Till next time guys!**


	11. Chapter 10: Temple of the Key

**Chapter 10: Temple of the Key**

 **CRASH SITE ALPHA**

Following the Tartarus' appearance, the battle against the Space Pirates had now evolved into a full-blown war and already there were casualties on the Assault Team's side.

"Oh God, I'm hit!" cried a blue-trimmed Fed soldier, collapsing behind a boulder, "Hanson, they got me bad!"

"Just hang in there, Avidan," said his sage-trimmed colleague with some concern, "Medic! We need a medic over here!"

At once, a New Republic soldier, whose armor had purple trim, came running up to them.

"I'm a medic!" she called, kneeling by the wounded Fed's side, "Calm down, soldier. Where are you hit?"

"Oh, they got me," Avidan groaned, "They got me right in the lap!"

"Alright, uh..." The Rebel Medic frowned, "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Urrgh, the lap!" Avidan groaned, "I was shot in the lap!"

"So, like your upper thigh?"

"Didn't you hear him?" Hanson snapped, "He said HIS LAP!"

"Oh God, my lap!" Avidan moaned.

The Rebel Medic grimaced slightly, "It's just that that's not really proper anatomical-"

"Well, excuse my friend here for not being a certified medical genius!" Hanson cut in with harsh irony.

"Ungh, come on, lady!" Avidan winced, "I need some slack. I'm bleeding out here!"

"Um, right, sorry," the Rebel Medic replied, shaking her head, "Are you hit anywhere else?"

"Uh, my tummy!" Avidan replied.

"They got 'im right in the tummy," Hanson agreed.

The Rebel Medic visor-palmed.

"This is gonna be a long day," she sighed.

 **XXX**

In another part of the battlefield, the Reds drove their Warthog into a nearby cavern and pulled to a stop.

"Simmons, status report!" Sarge barked.

"We're completely surrounded, severely unprepared and reinforcements aren't coming any time soon!" Simmons replied harshly.

"Excellent news!" Sarge declared, climbing out of the jeep.

"Excellent?!" Grif cried in disbelief.

"I was beginning to worry this wasn't going to be much of a fight! But you gotta hand it to those villains, always one step ahead!" Sarge chuckled to himself, "You can learn a thing or two from them, Simmons."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind if we survive, sir," Simmons muttered.

"Any bright ideas, Colonel?" Grif asked mockingly, jumping out the driver's seat.

Sarge glanced outside the cave to observe the battle, "The way I see it, we'll punch through the Pirates' defenses with an adrenaline-fueled slow-motion car crash, thus creating an opening for us to escape and allowing me to scratch one more thing off my bucket list."

Grif swapped a puzzled look with Simmons, "How do you just make something slow-motion?"

"If it's epic enough, life finds a way," Sarge replied enigmatically.

"Love the enthusiasm!" Simmons stated with mixed emotions, "It's great, sir, really. But don't you think we could try something that won't get my head blown off?"

"You could always switch seats with Grif," Sarge suggested.

"Done," Simmons said.

"Screw this!" Grif cut in, getting back in the Warthog, "We're regrouping with Wash!"

"Fine!" Sarge got back in the jeep, sulking as Grif drove towards the wreck of their old transport, "You just always have to suck the joy out of everything, don't ya?"

 **XXX**

 **JUNGLE TEMPLE**

Unaware of the battle that their friends were caught up in, Carolina, the Blues and Dr. Grey were still holed up inside the bubble shield, the Pirates still having their guns trained on them, ready to open fire the moment the shield failed.

"So... any ideas?" Tucker asked.

At this point, Carolina could feel her arms starting to weaken, "Epsilon, prep the Speed Booster, then drop the shield on my mark."

"That's not going to work!" Epsilon hissed back, his body flickering slightly.

"My leg's fine. I can take it."

"It won't work!" Epsilon repeated sharply. "Just think of something else before we run out of power."

"Yo, Kringle!" Tucker yelled to Santa, "These guys are gonna kill us if you don't throw down some alien magic and help!"

But Santa shook his head, "It is not my place to meddle with human affairs."

And with that, he disappeared.

"Aaargh! Freakin' cop-out!" Tucker groaned.

"Quick!" Dr. Grey cried, "Everyone into the portal!"

"It just leads to the testing grounds," Carolina argued, "We'll be tossed back out."

"Not all of us. Caboose could-" Dr. Grey suddenly gasped as an idea came to mind, "Oh, Caboose!"

"Hello!" Caboose replied, turning to her.

"I need you to take out Freckles and hold on to him as tight as you can," she replied.

"Ah, yeah, right!" Caboose cried, pulling out Freckles, "I do that all the time anyway. It's how I show affection."

"His guinea pig never stood a chance," Tucker sighed, bowing his head, "Rest in peace, Mr. Frittles."

Dr. Grey then turned to Carolina, "As soon as I'm gone, drop the shield."

"Where are you going?" Rhode asked.

One Space Pirate swapped a baffled look with his teammates, "What's she up to?"

"Yeah, kinda with the Pirates on this," Tucker agreed, "What exactly are you doing?"

"Well, if I explain it, they'll hear me!" Dr. Grey hissed.

"No, we won't!" said the second Pirate sarcastically, "Our hearing is terrible!"

"Yeah, we didn't even hear that," the third Pirate agreed.

"Shut up, Ross!" the fourth Pirate hissed.

"Please," Dr. Grey begged, "Just trust me!"

Carolina sighed and bowed her head, "Church?"

"I'm losing it!" Epsilon grunted, "Don't have much of a choice here!"

"My shield's ready to block if it doesn't work," Rhode said.

Carolina turned back to Dr. Grey and nodded, "Alright."

"Freckles, run command 'Aimbot'!" Dr. Grey ordered then she turned and jumped straight into the gateway.

As she disappeared, the portal gave a flash of light so bright that the Pirates were forced to cover their eyes. Epsilon chose this moment to drop the shield and Carolina collapsed. At the same time, Freckles jerked up in Caboose's hands and fired on the Pirates, taking them out with lightning-fast precision.

Caboose gave a loud gulp as his pet powered down, "Okay, um, that was actually not my fault."

"HOSTILES ELIMINATED," Freckles stated with a hint of smugness.

"Man!" Rhode gasped as he helped Carolina get to her feet, "If we put Church inside a gun, you think he could do that?"

"Don't even think about it," Epsilon warned, his image distorting slightly as he reappeared.

Just then, Dr. Grey reappeared behind them, "Oh goody, you're alive."

"Huh," Carolina said simply, "Guess she really is the smartest person on the planet."

"Oh stop, I'm not that great!" Dr. Grey giggled modestly, "I mean, the Aimbot function only works like half the time, so it was really just a coin toss."

"Wow," Epsilon muttered, rolling his eyes, "You really need to know when to stop talking."

Just then, Carolina's radio switched on, "Agent Carolina, this is Pelican Delta 5-2-0. We are approaching your position. Prep your team for evac, over."

"What?" Carolina gasped, answering the call, "No! I told Doyle to send troops to the Mountain Temple first."

The pilot was silent for a moment, "...He did, ma'am."

 **XXX**

 **EASTERN MOUNTAIN RANGE**

 **TEMPLE OF THE KEY**

At the edge of a snowbound cliff, Sharkface watched as a Pelican dropped out of the sky, landing next to his Falcon.

As the ramp opened, he ran over to join Felix and his platoon of Pirates, "This is as close as I could land. Temple's at the summit."

"Any sign of the enemy?" Felix asked.

"Visually, no," Sharkface replied, "But this place is messing with targeting equipment."

"Then let's get this over with." Felix turned to the Pirates, "Fan out and form a perimeter!"

He turned back to Sharkface with a smile, "Don't wanna miss all the fun back at Alpha."

With that, they set off down a path in the snow until they reached a huge tower jutting out of the mountain.

"This is it," Sharkface stated.

"Oh good," Felix replied with heavy sarcasm, "You know, I wasn't really sure, until you said that. Why don't you put those amazing powers of observation to use and stand guard, okay? Okay."

With that, he set off into the temple.

Sharkface turned to the Pirate who'd accompanied them, "Is he always like that?"

"You just kinda learn to tune it out," the Pirate replied.

 **XXX**

Felix marched through the temple corridors, keeping his eyes open for trouble, until he entered a chamber very similar to the testing room back at the Jungle Temple except without a glowing doorway.

"Hey Freddy Krueger, there's nothin' here!" he called to Sharkface on his radio, "Do we gotta do something? Say the magic words? Sacrifice like... a goat?"

"You are too late," came a deep echoing voice behind him.

"Whoa, what?" Felix drew out his gun and turned around, only to find a red holographic image of an alien standing before him, "What do you mean 'too late'? Where's the sword?"

"It has already been claimed by another," Santa replied, before disappearing.

Felix's jaw dropped and his gun slipped out of his hands. It was impossible, but somehow those accursed sim-troopers had beaten him again.

"No..." He clenched his fists in anger and raised his head to the ceiling. "OH COME ON!!!!!"

 **XXX**

In another part of the temple, General Doyle heard the echoed words ringing around the corridor as he ran out into the open, the Chorus Key-sword held firmly in his grasp.

"Oh, Lord," he sighed as he switched on his radio, "Of all the people on this planet, why am I the only one down with this bloody thing?!"

"Duh, because all your other men are flying to Kimball and Carolina," Donut replied from the Pelican circling over the mountain above, "Besides, you've got the best camouflage out of all of us."

"Just send them back around and pick me up, for God's sake!" Doyle yelled.

"(The temple is interfering with our controls,)" Lopez explained, "(We'll have to land further away.)"

"Good point, Lopez," Donut agreed, "You get that, General?"

"What? No!" Doyle spluttered. "I no hablo espanol!"

"They're here!" Felix's voice rang out from inside the temple, "Spread out and find them NOW!"

"Just hurry!" Doyle whimpered, ending the call and running down into the valley.

 **XXX**

 **CRASH SITE ALPHA**

 **SHIP WRECK**

"Diiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrt-baaaaaaaaaaaagggggg! Kaboom!" Sarge spread his arms out to show the size of the explosion then he smiled, "So that's the plan. Whaddya all think?"

Washington swapped a baffled look with Kimball, "How do you just make something slow-motion?"

"We're losing men here!" Kimball snapped, "I need to start hearing some serious solutions, and I need them now!"

"Who said I wasn't serious?" Sarge retorted.

"This ship still has a few pieces intact," Simmons spoke up, "If we could find one of its engines and get it online, we might have a chance to escape."

"Oh dude, are you gonna fly us out of here?" Grif asked hopefully.

"What? No, are you stupid?" Simmons cried, "Assuming the engines are as jacked as I think they are, I should be able to make us a smokescreen big enough to cover our escape."

"That's a start," Kimball decided, "Red Team, you and Wash take charge of this. Let me know when you're ready." With that, she set off back into the open to check on the rest of the army.

"Can do," Wash replied.

"Aww, flying out would be a lot cooler," Grif muttered in disappointment.

Just then, there was a loud cough behind them. Wash and the Reds turned to see that the squad lieutenants had joined them.

"Well, if it's an engine you're looking for," Smith stated boldly, "I just happen to know where to find one."

"And I jutht happen to know how to work it," Jensen added.

"And I... am also here and... would like to contribute to the conversation," Palomo put in.

"Then let's get to work," Wash declared.

"Uh, look," Bitters then cut in, "I-I hate to be 'that guy'-"

"No you don't," Grif interrupted.

"But the area is getting hit hard," Bitters continued, "Sniper fire's coming out of nowhere."

Wash's eyes narrowed.

He knew that there was only one person working with the Space Pirates that could turn invisible, "You leave that to me."

 **XXX**

Once their Pelican had dropped them off below the temple, Carolina, the Blues and Dr. Grey had immediately set off into the valley, hoping to get to Doyle before Sharkface or the Space Pirates did.

"General Doyle, we've dropped in at your position," Carolina spoke through a private comm channel in her helmet radio, "Pelicans are looking for a safe LZ. Where are you? Over."

"I'm in a snowy area," Doyle replied in hushed tones.

"Gonna have to be a little more specific, sir," Rhode requested patiently.

"Now isn't exactly a good time," Doyle hissed.

At that moment, Carolina heard Felix's voice over the radio, "Come on out, you idiot."

Then the signal went dead.

"Darn it!" Carolina swore, stamping her foot in the snow, "We need to find him."

"If we split up, we can cover more ground," Tucker suggested.

"Okay, Scooby-Doo," Epsilon cut in, appearing in front of Tucker, "Let's not make it too easy for the bad guys."

"Church!" Carolina suddenly cried, raising her battle rifle.

Epsilon, Dr. Grey, and the Blues spun around and spotted a now more familiar figure in black-and-red armor standing on a ledge above them.

"Jinkies, it's Sharkface!" Caboose gasped.

"Caboose, if you're gonna give him a nickname, don't make it that stupid," Tucker sighed.

"Wait," Rhode said, turning to Caboose, "What did you call him?"

"I underestimated you," Sharkface chuckled.

"We get that a lot," Carolina sneered, before firing her gun.

Sharkface simply raised his hand, summoning a hardlight shield to block the bullets, "Seems we're both looking for the same man. Bet you I'll find him first!"

With that, he turned and ran off across the ledge.

"In your dreams!" Carolina snapped, setting off after him.

"HEY! Wait!" Epsilon yelled, disappearing after her.

"Hey, where are you going?" Rhode called.

"Split up and cover more ground!" Carolina shouted over her shoulder.

"Oh, so when it's her idea, it's a good thing," Tucker muttered angrily.

"I wouldn't be too sure," Dr. Grey replied uncertainly.

"I'll go after her," Rhode said, "You guys go wherever."

Freckles' light flashed red as Rhode left, "HOSTILES DETECTED."

The Blues and Dr. Grey turned again, spotting two Space Pirates on another ledge just as they cocked their battle rifles.

"RUN!" Tucker yelled.

Quickly, they tore across the snowy plain, dodging the gunfire all around them.

Dr. Grey then spotted an opening in the ice, "In here!"

The Blues ran after her, stopping inside the cave to catch their breaths.

"Whew!" Tucker sighed, "Think we lost 'em?"

Suddenly, they heard a loud ghostly moan echoing from the shadows.

"What was that?!" Dr. Grey squealed in fright.

Tucker heard the moan again and his shoulders sagged, "Oh man, don't tell me it's alien zombies or something!"

"Ugh, I know!" Caboose groaned, "It's like zombies are super played out."

As the moan came again much louder this time, Freckles' light flashed again, this time showing green, "FRIENDLY HEAT SIGNATURE DETECTED."

"Friendly?!" Tucker cried.

"Thank God!" came a familiar voice from right behind them.

Tucker and Dr. Grey gave horrified shrieks and jumped back in alarm.

Caboose just smiled and waved, "Hi, Doc."

"DOC?!" Tucker whirled around to look, and his eyes almost shot out of his head.

Sure enough, there standing before them, was a soldier wearing bright purple armor and a huge grin on his face. On the left side of his chest, he had a white sticker with a red cross in the middle and in his hands, he held a medical scanner with glowing green tips.

"Oh, Tucker, Caboose! It's so good to see you!" Doc wept with joy, "It was horrible! Grif threw that future cube, and I was teleported away to some foreign place; another dimension where time and space refuted all logic as we know it! A place where I drifted for what seemed like an eternity! And after a while, I lost my mind! Then I found it! Then I lost it again. Oh, but it was the thought of you all tirelessly searching for a way to bring me back that kept me going all that time."

He broke down and grabbed Tucker and Caboose in a big hug, "And look! Look how my faith in my friends has been rewarded! Oh, I love you guys!"

"Wait..." Tucker cut in slowly, "You were gone?"

"I... well, yes!" Doc replied somewhat confused, "W-Why are you asking?"

"Since when?"

"Since when?! Since the canyon!"

"...Really?!"

"Yes!"

Caboose swapped a puzzled look with Tucker, "Yeah, I don't remember that."

"WHAT?!" Doc yelled.

(A.N.: Well... This is certainly awkward.)

Tucker quickly got on the radio to the Reds, "Hey, Sarge."

"Whaddya want, Blue?" Sarge replied.

"Do you remember teleporting Doc back in the canyon?"

 **XXX**

"Doc?" Sarge asked, "Nah, he's been with us! I think. Or wait, was he with you?"

"We found him in a cave," Tucker replied, "Says he was in another dimension."

"That doesn't sound right at all," Sarge muttered, "Grif! Simmons! You remember sending Doc to another dimension?"

"Who?" Simmons asked, switching on his radio.

"Doc! The purple guy!"

"Doc..." Grif was silent for a moment, "Oh, yeah! I guess we did do that!"

"Yeah, I totally forgot too," Tucker agreed.

"Huh," Simmons muttered, "I guess he's just got one of those faces, you know? Like really forgettable."

 **XXX**

"Totally," Tucker chuckled, "Alright, we'll talk to you guys later."

"Try not to die!" Sarge called.

"You too!" Tucker ended the call then turned back to Doc, "Man, I guess we just never noticed you were gone. Crazy, huh?"

Throughout the conversation between Tucker and the Reds, Doc had been staring in complete silence. Now he turned to the aqua sim-trooper, his right eye twitching slightly.

"Huh, crazy..." He then started to chuckle softly, "Heh heh heh, crazy? Crazy?!"

Then it turned into loud raucous laughter, which suddenly became more sinister and demonic. Not noticing the change, Caboose started laughing too, in a very mock evil tone.

As his laughter came to an end, Doc then looked over at Tucker, with a face like the darkest storms and a voice that neither Blue had heard in a very, very long time, **"You incompetent fools! You will all taste OBLIVION!"**

And before anyone could react, he pounced at Tucker, sending him tumbling into the snow then he started pounding into him, still laughing maniacally.

Dr. Grey turned to Caboose, who was still laughing, "Em... should we... do something?"

"Oh no, he's a friend," Caboose replied, before continuing his laughter.

 **XXX**

 **Jeez, he's gone for a season and a half and this is the greeting he gets? I feel so sorry for you Doc. Oh, and O'Malley's back! Till next time guys!**


	12. Chapter 11: Dish Best Served

**Chapter 11: Dish Best Served**

As the snow was whipped up around the mountains by the building wind, Sharkface tore across the plains, glancing over his shoulder for any sign of pursuit from Carolina. So far, the Counselor's diagnosis of her had been correct: the moment he'd challenged Carolina to a race for the Key, she'd abandoned her teammates and given chase. But now, she had disappeared.

Leaping over a hilltop, he crouched down and slid along the mountainside like a skater on an invisible board, until he reached the bottom and skidded across the surface of a frozen lake.

As he started to run again, he suddenly heard footsteps coming from the other side and he turned, "Huh?"

At that exact moment, Carolina leaped into the air and delivered a powerful punch right in his face, making him reel back. Before he could recover, Carolina jumped into a somersault, bashing his head in a butterfly kick then landed on her feet and kicked him backwards into a snowdrift. With a slight groan, Sharkface tried to stand but he still felt dizzy and he fell back in the snow.

"Heh, still got it," Carolina chuckled.

"Yeah, congratulations," Epsilon muttered impatiently, "Now, can we get back to the thing we came here for?"

"I had to make sure he wasn't a threat," Carolina replied, turning and walking back across the lake.

"Having to stroke your own ego is more like it," Epsilon retorted.

"Oh please," Carolina scoffed, "Like you're one to talk!"

Just then, Sharkface jumped to his feet and charged in behind Carolina, snatching her battle rifle from her back. As she turned round, he kicked her back to the ground, knocking her magnum off her belt.

"What the crap?!" Epsilon gasped as Carolina rolled onto her back.

"You're very efficient at administering pain, Carolina," Sharkface sneered, kicking the magnum away, "But pain is something I've learnt to live with."

As he spoke, he threw Carolina's rifle aside, sending it sliding across the ice and far beyond her reach.

 **XXX**

 **CRASH SITE ALPHA**

"Incoming!" a Fed soldier yelped, running behind a boulder where one of the Rebels was hiding behind.

"Hey, whoa whoa whoa!" the Rebel snapped, breaking from his shooting, "What do you think you're doing?"

"What?" the Fed panted.

"You go find your own cover! This is mine!"

"No way! We can share it!"

The Rebel scoffed and got to his feet, putting his hands on his sides, "Over my dead body!"

At that moment, a sniper round hit him in the head and he collapsed to the ground dead.

"Irony," the Fed muttered.

 **XXX**

On a ledge overlooking the battle, still hidden by his cloaking device, Locus turned his sniper rifle around, picking his next target.

"Tower 2 here," came a voice over his radio, "We're picking up enemy aircraft on our radar. Looks like they're staying out of range."

"Hold position," Locus ordered, "By the time reinforcements arrive, there'll be no one left for them to save."

At that moment, his sights were now focused on two Rebel soldiers hiding by the shipwreck's engine; Jensen and Palomo, as Felix had called them. With a small smile, he slowly squeezed the trigger...

Just then, the radio chirped again, "You really should've killed me when you had the chance, Locus."

"Who's that?" asked the Pirate at Tower 2, but Locus cut him out.

"I know you can hear me," the new voice continued, "I made sure this was broadcasting on all open channels."

Locus gave a scoff as he shifted his position, "Reckless behavior, even for you."

"I guess I'm just full of disappointment. You know, I've been thinking about the last time we met, the questions you asked me."

"We're past the point of talk, Agent Washington," Locus snapped, "Goodbye."

"I'm at the southwest side of the crash site."

At this, Locus peered through the sniper scope to the coordinates and spotted a steel-gray helmet with a yellow stripe on top poking out from behind a boulder, "You still don't feel like talking?"

Locus fired a single shot, smiling as he watched the helmet falling behind the rock, "No."

 **XXX**

Down below, Washington fell back behind the boulder and gave a heavy sigh... then he reached out with his rifle and snatched up the helmet lying next to him, still unable to believe that Locus had fallen for the old 'helmet on the end of a gun' trick.

Quickly, he put his helmet back on and got on the radio, this time on a private channel, "Please tell me you caught the vapor trail of that shot. He's not gonna fall for the same trick twice."

 **XXX**

On a ledge above him, Bitters nodded, his eyes focused on the cliff opposite, "Oh, we got him."

"Open fire!" Smith yelled.

The two lieutenants jumped to their feet and fired at the cliff. After a while, Locus suddenly appeared, crying out as his cloak failed. Bitters fired another shot, knocking the sniper out of his hands.

"Woohoo!" he cheered as he watched Locus retreat, "Suck it, you Predator knock-off!"

Smith then got on the radio, "Jensen, status report."

"Engineth all thet and ready for thmokethcreen," Jensen replied, "Thankth for the cover, guyth!"

"Hey, what about me?" Palomo cried, joining the conversation.

"You would've made an ecthellent human thield, Palomo."

"Oh. Thank you."

 **XXX**

Inside the shipwreck, Kimball and the Reds listened to the news with mild hope.

"You guys get that?" Wash then transmitted to them.

"Loud and clear!" Sarge replied.

"You sure this will work?" Kimball asked.

"Oh God, no!" Simmons replied.

"Well, it's better than getting shot, I guess... Or is it?" Grif then frowned, "Wait, what happens if this doesn't work?"

"We explode," Simmons said nonchalantly.

"Great," Kimball muttered sarcastically.

Nonetheless, she ran towards the entrance where the other Feds and Rebels had retreated to, "Everybody listen up! We're making our move!"

 **XXX**

Locus met up with Jackson who was leading the other Space Pirates as they approached the shipwreck, ready to end the battle. Suddenly, they heard a loud grating roar above them. As they looked round, one of the wreck's engines burst into life, releasing a huge black cloud of smoke that enveloped the whole field.

"Form a perimeter, and hold the line," Locus ordered.

"Grrr," growled one Pirate nearest to the wreck, "I can't see anything!"

At that moment, time seemed to slow down as they heard the sound of three cars starting in the smoke. Then a Warthog with red stripes on the bonnet burst out of the smokescreen in slow motion, its passengers yelling something indistinct. The three Pirates in front barely had time to react before they were run over by the jeep. As the Reds' car landed and two other Warthogs followed them out, time sped up again.

"Life finds a way!" Sarge cheered as the three jeeps drove out of the valley.

"They broke through the line, sir!" Jackson cried, "Should we follow?"

Locus was silent for a moment, "No. Their reinforcements will be waiting. Stand down."

Then Wash got back on his radio, "All that time we were with the Feds, I knew you were watching me, making sure I wasn't a threat... which was why I took the time to watch you. You know, you might see our similarities, Locus. But you still can't see that between the two of us, I'm the soldier, and you're just a killer."

And the radio went dead.

Locus's eyes narrowed in anger as he turned to Jackson, and his voice made no attempt to hide it either, "I need a vehicle."

 **XXX**

 **EASTERN MOUNTAIN RANGE**

 **"And take this!"**

"Ow!"

 **"And that!"**

"Ow!"

 **"And then take two of this!"**

"AHAHAHOOWWW!!!"

 **"And call that a personality in the morning! Hahahaha!"**

"OOOOOOHHHH!!!"

For at least five minutes, Doc had been pounding on Tucker, still laughing in a maniacal manner. While they watched, Caboose quickly explained to Dr. Grey (as best he could) who this strange character was to them.

"And you say he's a... medic?" Dr. Grey asked slowly.

"Yep," Caboose replied with a nod, "And a pacifier."

"Pacifist! OW!!!" Tucker yelled between Doc's punches.

"Yeah, but sometimes he gets really weird and calls himself 'O'Malley' and tries to destroy the world," Caboose added nonchalantly, "Yeah, it's like an inside joke."

Dr. Grey shook her head in disbelief, "You are, without question, the most fascinating group of individuals I have ever had the pleasure of meeting!"

"AHAHAHAAAAOOOOW!!!" Tucker cried out just then, "I'M DYING!!! OWWWWWW!!!"

"Oh, great!" At once, Dr. Grey ran up to Doc and without hesitation, punched him right in the cranium.

 **"Ahhh! The back of my head!"** O'Malley cried as he landed in the snow, falling unconscious.

With a groan of pain, Tucker pushed himself onto his elbows, "Ugh, you couldn't have done that any sooner?!"

"Oh calm down," Dr. Grey retorted, "You've got a medic to patch you up later."

"Calm down? Calm down?!" Tucker yelled, staggering to his feet, "Carolina, Rhode, and Church are gone, Doyle is still missing, and now we've got Dr. Evil ready to beat us to death as soon as he wakes up! So if we don't find this stupid sword and get out of here in the next five minutes, I'M GOING TO HAVE A HEART ATTACK!!!"

"Oh well, maybe those guys have seen it," Caboose replied, pointing over his shoulder.

Tucker and Dr. Grey whirled around to find that the two Pirates who'd been chasing them earlier standing at the entrance to the cave.

"Oh, give me a break!" Tucker screamed.

Dr. Grey turned her head and closed one eye as the Pirates took aim and then two shots rang out... but to their amazement, both Pirates fell to the ground dead as Donut and Lopez came running up to them, weapons drawn.

"Boo-yah!" Donut cheered, "Consider yourselves penetrated!"

"(I think you meant perforated)," Lopez corrected.

"Thanks, Lopez!" Donut replied, "I do live la vida loca."

"Well, there you go," Dr. Grey stated simply.

"I honestly don't know if this is better or worse," Tucker muttered.

"You all go find General Doyle," Dr. Grey ordered, kneeling next to Doc, "I'll stay here and make sure your medic friend is okay."

"Sounds good," Tucker replied as he and Caboose ran out the cave, "Come on, let's go!"

Donut meanwhile had just noticed the motionless purple figure on the floor, "Hey, is that Doc?"

"Yep!" Tucker called back.

"Huh, feels like I haven't seen him in ages," Donut muttered, running after Lopez and the Blues, "Weird."

 **XXX**

As Carolina charged forward, Sharkface swung his leg out in a roundhouse kick. Carolina was quick to duck under his leg then she turned around and punched out at Sharkface three times, each time getting blocked. She then jumped up and punched him right in the head, sending him reeling back. Sharkface shook his head to clear the pain then ran back into the fight.

Carolina went into a spinning pirouette, swinging her arms in front of her. Sharkface quickly raised his own arm, blocking the attack, then he swung his other fist out, catching Carolina in the face. With a growl, Carolina ran forward and jumped again, turning in midair to deliver a reverse roundhouse kick. Sharkface ducked the kick then threw his arms out as she landed, punting her back. Again he threw another punch at her, but this time Carolina grabbed his arm with one hand and twisted it around, smacking him in the throat with her other hand. While Sharkface coughed, Carolina grabbed his other arm, elbowed him in the face and then twisted the arm quite hard until she heard it popping out of his shoulder. Satisfied, she kicked him back, sending him sprawling on the ice and knocking his assault rifle aside in the process.

As Sharkface struggled to stand, his one arm hanging limply on his side, Carolina stepped to him, "Epsilon, BioScan."

"Shoulder's dislocated," Epsilon reported, "Guy's a pincushion, he's got plates and staples all over his body."

"Weak points?" Carolina asked.

"More like reinforcements."

With a painful chuckle, Sharkface finally got to his feet before he grabbed his loose arm and forced it back in its socket with an audible pop, "You Freelancers love your gadgets. But it's a step in the right direction."

Carolina's eyes narrowed as she raised her fists, "Who are you?"

"Your past come back to haunt you," Sharkface replied enigmatically.

As Carolina lunged forward, Sharkface kicked out, blocking her own kick, then he punched her in the head. He followed it up with a bash on her shoulder, a punch to the chest and a backhand which went went straight to another punch to her face before raising his arm for another blow. This last one, Carolina crossed her arms in front of his face, blocking his arm.

"What did I ever do to you?" she demanded through gritted teeth.

"You still don't know?" Sharkface taunted.

Carolina grabbed his arm and twisted it round again, but this time Sharkface spun around and grabbed her by the throat, "Let me jog your memory."

Just then Carolina heard a faint hiss as a small nozzle popped out of Sharkface's gauntlet. Quickly, she turned her head to one side... just as a jet of flame shot out from the end, narrowly missing her face.

The moment the fire stopped, Sharkface delivered a kick to the gut, knocking her out of his grip, "You're gonna burn for what you did to me, Carolina!"

When he had first appeared at the Jungle Temple, Carolina only had a vague idea of who Sharkface was from seeing his red trim and the teeth on the visor.

But now that she'd had a close shave with his hidden flamethrower, the memories came flooding back. "You were at the vault the day of the heist. Part of the Resistance. The one who killed Rhode's family."

"He WHAT?!" Epsilon gasped.

"That's right!" Sharkface barked in anger, "So now you understand why you have to die."

With a flick of his wrist, he switched on the flamethrower on his other gauntlet then lashed out, sending another wave of flame. Dodging the wave, Carolina grabbed his arm and pointed it up, jamming the flamethrower. He swung out with his other arm, trying to fry her, but she blocked it in the same way. With a snarl, he went straight into a powerful punch. Carolina blocked it then rammed her wrist into his head. Sharkface then threw his arm out, shooting another blast of fire. Narrowly dodging it, Carolina locked her arm around his gauntlet, snapping the nozzle shut, at the same time throwing a kick onto his chest and pushing him back, pulling out of his grip with a backflip.

As Sharkface landed in the middle of the lake, Carolina pounced on top of him, cracking the ice underfoot, and threw a punch at his face. Blocking the attack, Sharkface took a quick look at the cracks then he rammed his elbow down on the ice, cracking it further. Carolina punched him again ad Sharkface elbowed the ice again. This time, the loud crack alerted Carolina and she looked around, noticing the cracks formed around them for the first time. But while she was distracted, Sharkface raised both his elbows and smashed them down, shattering the ice beneath them. Quickly, Carolina jumped forward and grabbed the edge of the hole as Sharkface disappeared into a long tunnel below.

As Carolina started to pull herself up, she suddenly felt something grabbing her leg. She looked down, expecting to see Sharkface hanging on to her, but instead she saw a grappling hook on the end of a cable clamped around her boot.

"What the crap is with this guy!?" Epsilon cried, moments before the cable tightened and Carolina was pulled down into the cave.

Smacking into a few icy ledges, Carolina landed in an ice-covered cavern and slid along, still being dragged towards Sharkface by the hook on her ankle. As she drew closer, she quickly pushed herself forward, shaking the hook loose. As Sharkface aimed his hookshot, Carolina used her momentum to slide right around, onto the roof of the cave, and then dropped down on top of him, smacking the gun away before punching him in the face.

Looking up then, she saw a pillar looming towards them. Quickly, she leapt off his chest and flew past the pillar, while Sharkface slid round the other side. More icicles awaited them and they quickly slipped and slid around them like tobogganing penguins. Sharkface pulled out his pistol and fired blindly at Carolina, who ducked behind the icy pillars for cover. With a scowl, Sharkface raised his leg and kicked off one icicle, pushing himself closer to Carolina.

As he drew up next to her, he raised his gun again, but it clicked empty just before they slid into two separate tunnels, "Huh?"

Seizing the opportunity, Carolina pushed herself forward, smashing through the thin crust of ice and slamming into his side, all but canceling his momentum as she slid further down the tunnel.

As she went, she looked and saw the exit ahead, blocked by icicles, "Epsilon, I need armor enhancements!"

"Which one?" Epsilon asked.

Carolina glanced over her shoulder and saw that Sharkface was catching up to her, reloading his pistol as he slid, "All of them!"

As Sharkface opened fire, Carolina crossed her arms, pressing a button on her right gauntlet, moments before she crashed through the icicles and fell through the air, the energy shield forming around her to block the bullets and then switching off moments before she landed. Epsilon then activated her adaptive camouflage unit, turning her armor as white as the snow around her then Carolina pressed a button on her thigh and pushed herself off the ground, her speed unit launching her like a rocket toward the cave's exit.

Just as Sharkface flew out of the tunnel, Carolina grabbed him in midair and forced him right into a frozen waterfall, jamming him right in the ice as she punched him in the face. However, his legs were still free and he kicked then both out, throwing her back onto the ground.

As she got to her feet, Epsilon appeared next to her, "Carolina, you okay?"

"Just run the Healing Unit," Carolina panted.

"That's a lot for me to handle!" Epsilon protested.

"We've almost got him!" Carolina insisted.

"No..." Sharkface yelled, pulling himself out of the waterfall and landing on the ground before them, "This is where I get you!"

So saying, he took out two frag grenades from his belt, pulled the pins and tossed them high over his head. Then he bent down on one knee, threw his arms back and activated his flamethrowers from his gauntlets.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me," Epsilon breathed.

KABOOOOOOMMMMM!!! The grenades exploded above his head, sending an avalanche of snow down from the mountain. At the same time, Sharkface turned on his flamethrowers, the jet of flame shooting him towards Carolina and Epsilon like the jetpack on a rocket-powered skier, true firebender style.

"RUN!" Epsilon yelled, disappearing from view.

Carolina took off across the plains, desperate to get ahead of the avalanche and the pursuing Sharkface, "Gotta go faster!"

"We're running out of mountain!" Epsilon warned.

"What?"

"Drop coming, but if you jump, there's a lake at the bottom."

Carolina glanced over he shoulder, seeing Sharkface getting closer, "No, we can do it! We hit him again and end this!"

As she reached the edge of a cliff, she spun around and raised her fists, ready for Sharkface...

"Wait, STOP!" Church yelled, but Carolina seemed determined to finish the fight.

 **XXX**

In hindsight, he probably should have seen this coming. Epsilon had thought her competitive nature would end once she'd beaten Tex and stopped the Director, but old habits are hard to break.

With his enhanced view of the world around him, making everything seem frozen, he quickly summoned the memories of Delta and Theta to aid him in the fight.

"Theta, send all power to her legs and stabilizers!" Church ordered.

"I'm trying," Theta pants, bracing himself on Carolina's shin.

"Delta, prioritize the-" Epsilon turned to face Delta but then he suddenly noticed his image was flickering like the static on a monitor, "Delta?"

Delta looked like he was trying to speak, but no word come out before his image shatters and fades away.

"It's too much!" Theta calls and Church looked down to see that he too was starting to distort, "What do we do?"

Suddenly Theta too breaks apart.

Horror filled his synthetic mind, and Church slowly lifted his hands and notice they were flickering too.

"I don't know," was the last thing Church said before he too broke apart...

 **XXX**

...In that instant, everything in Carolina's armor suddenly failed. Her armor faded back to cyan and her speed unit crashed, but worst of all, she couldn't feel any stability in her legs. She stumbled backwards and started sliding down the last few feet of the cliff. Desperately, she scrabbled for any hold of the cliff, but to no avail, and she fell right over the edge of the cliff down into the forest by the edge of the lake.

Seeing Carolina fall, Sharkface switched off his flamethrowers and skidded to a stop. With a smile, he strolled right up the edge and peered down, looking for any sign of movement. Finding none, he chuckled and turned to walk away.

"Hey Sharkface!"

Sharkface's helmet was suddenly hit by a fist-sized rock and he stumbled back, more in surprise and confusion than in pain. He looked up and saw a green armored figure pointing his sniper rifle at him.

"Remember me?" Rhode asked.

 **XXX**

 **And the rematch begins... Next chapter! Till next time guys!**


	13. Chapter 12: Off-Key

**Chapter 12: Off-Key**

Rhode and Sharkface stood in their positions, staring each other down.

"If you don't want to end up like your girlfriend down there," Sharkface chuckled, "I suggest you lower your weapon."

"Over my dead body," Rhode answered before firing.

Sharkface miraculously ducked the bullet and ran forward, knocked away the sniper and grabbed Rhode by the throat.

"That can be arranged."

He slammed Rhode into the ground, keeping a tight grip on his throat. Rhode kicked his feet out and hit Sharkface in the chest. He got up and charged with his right arm out, starting to activate his hardlight shield. Sharkface did the same and the two shields clashed in a series of sparks.

When they separated, Sharkface and Rhode traded blow for blow in punches. Rhode remembered his sabers and began to reach for one. But that one little second was enough time for Sharkface to sweep his feet out, knocking Rhode on his back.

As Sharkface grabbed Rhode's legs, the Freelancer yelled, "Not again!"

Sharkface threw Rhode off the cliff and Rhode fell through the trees and landed in a crumpled heap a few yards away from Carolina.

"Two down," Sharkface said to himself, "One to go."

 **XXX**

Unaware of Carolina and Rhode's downfall, General Doyle ran across the rocky mountain plains, trying desperately to keep ahead of Felix. Puffing and panting, he glanced over his shoulder to see if the merc was still behind him.

When he turned back around, he suddenly realized that he had ended up on a snowy precipice, stopping just short of the edge, "Oh, dear!"

At that moment, he heard laughter behind him and he turned to find that Felix had caught up to him and was now aiming his rifle, cutting off his escape, "End of the line, General."

Thinking fast, Doyle held the sword out at arm's length over the edge of the cliff, "I wouldn't advise pointing that weapon at me; I am prone to fainting after all!"

"Oh, very bold," Felix chortled, lowering his gun, "But a coward doesn't put his life on the line like that. And you are a coward, Donald Doyle."

"Shoot me, and you lose the sword!" Doyle warned, trying in vain to hide the tremble in his voice.

"You're bluffing," Felix scoffed, inching closer.

"You can't take that chance."

"I can if it's a sure thing."

"STAY BACK!" Doyle yelled, loosening his grip on the sword.

"Give me the sword!"

"FINE!" Doyle yelled then he cleared his throat and switched off the sword, "Fine. You can have it..."

And with one final glance at the weapon, he quickly tossed it over his head.

"NO!" Felix yelled, charging forward.

Doyle chose this moment to run off the cliff, narrowly missing Felix as he dived onto the edge, catching the sword moments before it could fall into the clouds, "Gotcha!"

At that moment, Tucker, Caboose, Donut, and Lopez came running into view.

"There he is!" Donut yelled, pointing at the retreating Doyle.

"He has the sword!" Doyle yelled as he joined the Reds and Blues, ducking behind Lopez for protection.

"What?!" Tucker gasped, spotting Felix as he got to his feet, "Oh, crap!"

Quickly, he and the others drew out their guns and fired.

Felix raised his hand and activated his lightshield, blocking the shots, "Well, look who it is; Lavernius Tucker... and his other less important, but equally annoying, friends."

"No one steals from the North Pole, and gets away with it!" Caboose snapped.

"I don't really see how that's relevant, but I agree!" Donut added.

"Hand over the sword, Felix!" Tucker demanded.

Felix shook his head and holstered the sword onto his belt, "Oh, now I think I am going to keep that right here."

"Dude, you're surrounded!" Tucker yelled, gripping his gun, "You've got nowhere to go!"

"Then come get me," Felix goaded, beckoning them with his free hand.

Tucker began to take a step forward, but at that moment, his mind was suddenly bombarded with images of his previous battle with Felix. He remembered the agonizing pain as he was stabbed in the stomach, the scornful look in the merc's eyes, the sting of the rain on his wound, the blood-soaked sands... Shaking his head, he stepped back again.

"Oh... not so tough after all, huh?" Felix chuckled, noting Tucker's hesitation, "I guess without your big bad Freelancer buddies, you really can't do much, can you?"

"We've outsmarted you!" Tucker retorted.

"Oh, I'm well aware of that, Tucker. "You see, not many people get the best of me," As Felix spoke, Tucker suddenly became heard the sound of rotors coming from under the edge, "But no one gets the best of me, and lives to tell about it."

At that moment, a Falcon helicopter rose up from beneath the cliff. Through the windscreen, the Reds and Blues were shocked to discover that Locus was piloting.

"Ohhh, that's-that's bad," Caboose gulped.

"AFFIRMATIVE," Freckles agreed.

"He was stalling!" Doyle gasped.

"Ya think?" Tucker snapped.

At that moment, the Falcon's cannons turned and fired at Doyle and the Reds and Blues, driving them back and forcing them to duck behind some boulders for cover.

"And you say I talk too much," Felix chuckled as he climbed onto the Falcon.

"You do," Locus grunted.

As the Falcon took off away from the cliff, Felix leaned out the window and waved to them with a laugh, "Sayonara, losers!"

"You have to stop them!" Doyle yelled, watching the Falcon disappear into the clouds, "He's going to use that sword to kill us all!"

"Chill out," Tucker reassured, "I don't think he knows how it works yet."

"What makes you say that?" Doyle asked puzzled.

"Well, if he did, he probably wouldn't have left without killing you."

Doyle gulped loudly, "Uhh... me?"

At that moment, Caboose looked around in confusion. "Ummm... whatever happened to Church?"

 **XXX**

As Church sat on Carolina's chest, he looked at her and Rhode, the latter of whom was lying unconscious a few feet away.

"She is going to be so ticked off when she wakes up."

 **XXX**

When the two armies of Chorus had left on their respective missions, each side had had a feeling of hope and accomplishment. But now returning back to Armonia, all they felt was a crushing sense of defeat and failure. News was already spreading around the city that the Pirates had more men than they thought they had, and more disturbing news about the Pirates now having access to something that could wipe off the face of the planet. Naturally, blame was thrown around the city; the Feds blamed the New Republic, and the Rebels blamed the Feds.

In fact, the only ones who weren't blaming everyone else were the Blood Gulch Crew, who were now waiting in the war room for Kimball and Doyle to join them, except for Donut and Lopez, who'd gone back to the armory, and Carolina and Doc who were being treated in the city's hospital.

For the longest time, none of them spoke, the memories of their respective failures still fresh in their minds.

"Sooo," Grif muttered, ruffling his short brown hair, "Uh... that did not go well."

"Yeah," Tucker sighed.

"Mmm-hmm," Simmons murmured.

"It was real bad," Caboose agreed.

Then after a pause, "We found Doc."

"Uhh, yeah," Grif said uncertainly.

"That's technically good," Simmons agreed.

"Well, I had a great time!" Sarge boasted loudly.

"Oh, GOOD FOR YOU!!!" Kimball's voice yelled out just then.

"Thank you!" Sarge replied.

"No, not you!" Kimball scowled, pointing at Doyle as they entered the war room, "Him!"

"It was a split second decision, and I stand by it!" Doyle stated defiantly.

"Well, thanks to you, the mercenaries now have the power to kill us all," Kimball snapped.

"Only if I die first!"

"Great! So now we'll get to waste valuable men to guard you 24/7!"

"Well, we'd have more men if you hadn't led them all into a trap!"

"Don't you dare turn this around on me."

"Okay, ENOUGH!!!" Washington yelled, pushing the two generals apart as he entered the room, "You two are acting like children!"

"Ha ha, you're immature!" Grif chortled.

"Dish duty!" Kimball yelled.

"Crap!"

"What's done is done," Wash continued, rejoining his team, "So let's quit focusing on what went wrong and start thinking about what we have now, and what we can start doing."

"How's Church, Rhode, and Carolina?" Simmons asked.

"Our dear friend Emily has assured me that Carolina and Rhode will make a full recovery," Doyle replied, "Uh, as well as your purple friend from the caves."

"Eh, tough luck," Simmons shrugged, "Can't win 'em all."

"Epsilon's situation is more problematic," Wash added, "He's doing fine now, but there's something he's not telling us. Complete armor failure just doesn't happen out of the blue."

"Well, if you want my tactical assessment-" Sarge started.

"We don't," Grif cut in.

"-It looks to me like we've got to get to the alien-phone-tower-thingy, pronto!" Sarge continued, "Make a collect call to Earth!"

Wash grimaced, "Well..."

"Dial 1-800-Send-ships-and-kill-pirates! Standard text-messaging rates apply."

Wash glared at Sarge, "Are you done?"

"I'll think of more," Sarge murmured.

With a nod, Wash turned back to Kimball and Doyle, "We can't go barging in like we did with Alpha."

"I couldn't agree more," Doyle stated.

"Well, we can't just sit here and wait for Charon to attack!" Kimball retorted sharply.

"Why not?" Doyle demanded, "It's heavily fortified and the city reactor rules out the risk of aerial bombings. Our alien artifacts are no good to Charon post-explosion, my dear Vanessa."

"Then they'll surround us and wait for our supplies to run dry," Kimball shot back, "Jesus, don't you think about any of this?!"

"So you suggest we throw Tucker out there to search for the tower?" Doyle yelled back, "They'll kill him, and then they'll have two swords!"

"Hey, I could make it..." Tucker gulped nervously, "Maybe."

"I don't have all of the answers, General, but I do know that sometimes you have to risk lives if you want to see results. Even your own. Especially your own," Kimball's voice dropped to a low threating tone as she drew closer to Doyle, "You should have thrown that sword off the mountain and taken the freaking bullet, but you're too much of a stupid, selfish coward to see that."

"KIMBALL!!!" Wash shouted.

Kimball didn't reply, still glaring at Doyle, "This meeting is over."

And she turned around and stormed out of the war room.

"Wait!" Wash called, "We need to come up with a plan!"

"Sooo," Grif muttered after another pause, "Uh... that didn't really go well either."

"She's right though," Doyle sighed, bowing his head and turning to leave.

"Where are you going?" Wash cried.

"My quarters. I'm a failure of a General, and apparently a failure of a human being," Doyle paused at the doorway and turned to face them, "Should any of you actually need me, you know where to find me."

"Actually, I don't think you ever told us where your quarters are," Simmons pointed out.

"Well, then I'm a failure at leaving too!"

With that, Doyle turned and left the room, hitting the access panel so hard that the door made a slamming noise as it slid shut.

"Well, crap," Tucker muttered.

"I say forget the both of them," Sarge decided, "If they don't want to run this show, then we'll just do it for them. First order of business: Red uniforms!"

"The problem isn't just with them," Wash sighed, still staring at the door, "The Feds and Rebels may be working together, but they still aren't... working together. There's no trust, no... anything!"

"Well, it took us ages before we were able to trust the Blues," Simmons pointed out.

"Yeah, and some of us are still working on it," Grif agreed, glancing at Sarge who was pointing his shotgun at Caboose's head.

"Why, I oughta..." Sarge muttered before realizing he was being watched and dropped his gun, "Oh, what?"

"Face it, dude," Tucker said, stepping next to Wash's side, "These guys spent years killing each other. They're not going to get all buddy-buddy."

"I know," Wash sighed, shaking his head, "But if we can't bring them together soon, we're not going to stand a chance."

Both teams were silent for a long time as they pondered the challenge before them.

"Operator, I'd like to place a collect-call... to vengeance!" Sarge stated then. "Ha, knew I had one more in me!"

 **XXX**

 **I knew you would Sarge. Also, pretty short rematch, but necessary. Till next time guys!**


	14. Chapter 13: The Thin Fed Line

**Chapter 13: The Thin Fed Line**

 **ARMONIA HOSPITAL**

Leaving Lopez to watch over the armory, Donut came over to the hospital to check up on Doc. He found him in the ward being treated by Dr. Grey and while she nursed his bruised head, Donut proceeded to catch Doc up on everything that had happened while he'd been gone.

"...And then it turned out Felix was evil," he concluded, "So we exposed the truth, stopped the civil war, and now we're fighting to send a distress call to Earth!"

Throughout the whole story, Doc had listened with a stony look on his face.

Now he turned to Donut and his brow creased into a grimace, "And at no point, during any of this, did you realize I was missing?"

Donut swapped a look with Dr. Grey then he shrugged, "Apparently not!"

With a violent roar, Doc leapt off his bed, grabbed Donut by the throat and slammed him into the wall, his face twisted into a wicked scowl, **"ARRRGHHH! I will destroy you all for your insufferable ignorance!"**

"Ooh!" Dr. Grey breathed with mild surprise, "This is certainly the most vocal split personality I've ever seen. But I suppose an eternity in isolation will do that for you."

She went over to Doc and tapped him on the shoulder, "Tell me, Mr. O'Malley, when you say you wish to 'destroy us all', what exactly do you think you mean by that?"

 **"I mean you will cease to exist,"** Doc replied in his demonic voice, still holding Donut by the throat, **"You will all die by my hand! Mwahahahahaaaa! Really, it's quite self-explanatory."**

"Well, I think there is some serious issues just starting to get a hold of you!" Dr. Grey giggled, "Nothing a little electroshock therapy couldn't fix."

O'Malley's laughter faded and he let go of Donut, **"I beg your pardon?"**

With a seductive smile, Dr. Grey took out her medical scanner and flicked a switch on its side, making its tip glow blue instead of green, "After you, handsome."

 **(A/N: Let the shipping commence!)**

"Wait, wait!" Doc cried, his voice changing back to normal again, "Can't we talk about this?"

"We're gonna fix you right up, Doc!" Donut reassured, rubbing his neck, "Where should I stick the thermometer?"

"Uh... I think I need to get a second opinion!" And Doc turned and ran out of the ward.

"We got a runner!" Dr. Grey cried, setting off in pursuit with Donut.

 **XXX**

In the bed next to Doc's, Carolina sat up and watched them go.

"Finally, some freakin' quiet!" Epsilon sighed, appearing on her bedside table, "Hey, wanna see if she left her prescription pad?"

Carolina got out of bed, picked up her armor then turned to Epsilon, "As soon as I'm dressed, we need to talk."

"Oh. Yeah," Epsilon muttered with some disappointment, knowing what she would want to talk about, "Can we at least do it when you're on heavy sedatives?"

 **XXX**

In another part of the city, the Gulch Crew were busy with a much more difficult case than Doc's schizophrenia. While Washington had gone to try and talk with Kimball, the Reds and Blues had decided to try and get the Feds and the Rebels to cooperate with each other one by one. On the Rebels' side, they had chosen Palomo and for the Feds, they found a Fed with sage trim on his armor named Hanson. But so far, it wasn't going too well.

"Alright, let's try this again," Simmons stated patiently, "First, we start with a friendly handshake."

But none of the soldiers complied. Hanson folded his arms and looked away, while Palomo just spat onto his visor, "Devil man."

Hanson turned round with a disgusted grimace, "Did you just spit inside your helmet?"

"Take yourself, and jump off a cliff... with yourself," Palomo retorted bitterly.

"...What?"

"Exactly!"

"Gosh dang it, Palomo," Tucker groaned, visor-palming.

"Well, it's a step-up from assault and battery," Simmons said.

"He provoked me!" Palomo snapped.

"You Rebels are all nuts," Hanson muttered, shaking his head.

"That's impossible!" Palomo retorted, "Nuts don't have orifices! Go back to school!"

"What about doughnuts?"

"Now you're just speaking in riddles, and you know it!"

Sarge swapped a puzzled look with Grif and Simmons, "I'm having a hard time following this conversation."

"Ugh, forget it," Tucker sighed in exasperation, "You guys can go."

"Fine," Hanson stated in relief, turning to leave.

Palomo flipped Hanson off behind his back then turned to Tucker, "How'd I do?"

"You are a constant source of disappointment," Tucker replied simply.

"Alright!" Palomo cheered as he ran off to find the other lieutenants.

"Hey, I thought I was a constant source of disappointment," Caboose said jealously, "Well, I will just have to try harder. Someone give me a screwdriver!"

"Ugh, why is this happening now?!" Tucker growled, throwing up his hands in despair, "We're in the middle of a freaking war and these guys won't do anything but hate on each other!"

"The problem isn't with them," Grif replied, "It's just with your approach."

"What the heck's that supposed to mean?" Sarge asked.

"You can't force people into liking each other," Grif explained, "You just gotta lie to them until they think they like each other."

"That sounds like a terrible idea," Simmons argued.

"No, he's right," Tucker stated, "I used the same tactic on women a million times!"

"This is basic stuff," Grif agreed, "First, we tell Doyle Kimball wants to apologize and meet him for dinner. Then, we tell Kimball that Doyle wants to apologize then invite her to the same restaurant."

"Oh, come on," Simmons scoffed, "There's no way that'll work! That's a plot point used in old sitcoms!"

"And one of those sitcoms was called _Friends_ , which is exactly what we want them to be!" Grif proclaimed, "Case closed!"

"Face it, moron, we just ain't cut out for this kinda job, "Sarge rubbed his chin in thought, "What we need is someone with a more delicate touch. Someone that can act as a neutral thought. Someone that's neither Red nor Blue, but some sort of disgusting middle ground, like a... dark fuchsia."

At that moment, Doc came running around the corner, passing them as he glanced over his shoulder, "You'll never take me alive! I ran track in high school!"

"Running only makes me want you more!" Dr. Grey yelled as she and Donut hared after him.

Sarge watched them go then turned to the others, "If only we knew someone that-"

"Oh, just stop," Simmons sighed.

 **XXX**

 **ARMONIA CITY LIMITS**

Once she had gotten dressed, Carolina left the hospital and made her way through the city, out the main gates, until she reached a fenced-off rocky outcropping overlooking the streets.

When she was certain that no one was listening, she turned to Epsilon, "What happened to you back in the mountains? You were with me one minute then the next you were gone."

"Yeah, no kidding," Rhode said, walking up to them, "Total armor failure? That doesn't happen out of the blue."

"Alright, I know what you're tryin' to talk about here," Epsilon replied slowly, "Look, sometimes guys my age have performance issues, it's completely natural!"

"Epsilon, I'm serious." Carolina said.

"Hey, me too! This stuff's embarrassing, and now I gotta talk to Dr. Grey about getting some pills-"

"Stop dodging me on this!" Carolina snapped.

Epsilon sighed heavily, "Look, I'm not failing if that's what you're worked up about, but... I have my limits."

Carolina's anger faded into confusion, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you can't expect me to run all of your armor equipment at the drop of a hat!" Epsilon replied sternly, "I'm not a young, brand new AI! I'm just one of the fragments."

"He's got a point," Rhode admitted.

Carolina sighed and ran a hand through her auburn hair, "Look, I'm sorry if I pushed you too far. But we can't use that as an excuse. We're going to need every advantage we can get!"

"Oh, you're right," Epsilon replied sarcastically, "Would you like some holographic projections too? How about a time distortion while you fight?

"Or, ooh, we could make your seat warmer, how about that?" Rhode said sarcastically making Carolina turn on him.

"You know what we're up against!" Carolina yelled.

"And you know what happened to the Meta!" Rhode blurted out.

Carolina gasped in horror, "What did you just say?"

Epsilon looked back and forth between them, "I'm... gonna go now."

And Church disappeared.

"He kept fighting for more and more power too," Rhode explained, "and in the end, it got him killed!"

Carolina's eyes narrowed in anger, "Don't you ever talk about Maine like that!"

"I'm just trying to show you how close you're getting to crossing a very dangerous line. You're Agent Carolina! You don't need all this fancy stuff to win. You're already the best!"

Again, Carolina's anger faded and she gave him a wan smile, "I appreciate the thought, Rhode. I really do."

"Good, 'cause I am really not all about this emotional stuff."

"But the only reason we survived the radio jammer is because Locus is insane!" Carolina continued, her voice cracking slightly, "He could've killed Wash! Sharkface could've killed you! And you all could've done a lot more!"

"But we didn't!" Rhode retorted, "So what does it have to do with anything anyway?"

Carolina didn't reply straight away, instead turning to look down at Armonia.

Then she took a deep breath and bowed her head, "I told you when I went through the gateway that I saw the Freelancers... I had to watch them die."

Rhode's expression changed from confused to stunned in less than a heartbeat, "Oh..."

"And after they were gone, I saw all of you. Wash, Tucker, the Reds, you..." Carolina turned to face him, tears appearing in her eyes.

Rhode was taken aback by the tears. He had never seen her cry, except... in her video journal when she thought he'd died. Not knowing what else to do, Rhode wrapped her arms around her and pulled her into a warm hug.

"Rhode..." she sniffed, "I can't lose another family."

"You're scared," came a British voice behind them.

Carolina and Rhode separated and turned to find General Doyle standing at the end of the path, accompanied by two high-ranking Feds.

"Er, forgive me," he coughed, "But I'm all too familiar with the feeling."

"What are you doing here?" Carolina asked.

Doyle sent his Feds away with a wave then he joined them by the fence, "It's my favorite part of the Capitol. Just far enough away from everything. I come here whenever I need a moment. It looks as thought you had a similar idea?"

"Shouldn't you be in the center of town, behind seventy-eight inches of bulletproof everything?" Rhode asked.

"Oh, there's all sorts of things we should be doing," Doyle replied, "We should be prepping our next move against the enemy. But instead we're here, standing around and talking."

"Yeah," Epsilon conceded, appearing again, "You get used to it."

Doyle looked out over the city for a few moments, "You know, I believe it was the great William Shakespeare who said: 'Courage is not the absence of fear. It is acting in spite of it.'"

He turned back to the Freelancers, "I don't believe those words have ever been more relevant."

Rhode frowned, "I... don't think that was Shakespeare."

"What?" Doyle asked.

"That quote," Church put in, "I don't think he said that."

"... Really?"

"Yeah, pretty sure."

"Uh, yeah," Carolina agreed.

Doyle looked crestfallen, "Oh."

"Still," Carolina sighed, turning to look at the city, "It's a good quote."

Doyle's smile came back, "Thank you."

Rhode nodded slowly, "Well, here's to hoping the mercs are just as frustrated as the rest of us."

 **XXX**

 **CRASH SITE ALPHA**

"I... AM EXTREMELY... FRUSTRATED!!!" Felix yelled with each time he smashed the sword against the table.

"Get a grip," Sharkface sighed.

"How?!" Felix snapped, turning on him, "How could you forget to mention something as important as that?!"

"We were in a hurry," Sharkface replied.

"Oh, you were in a hurry?" Felix sneered with sarcasm as thick as molasses, putting the sword down and grabbing his rifle, "Hey, Locus, you know I was really thinking about letting Sharkface live, but since we're in a hurry, how about we just kill him?!"

Sharkface's eyes narrowed, "I'd like to see you try."

"Done," Felix snarled, pointing the gun at Sharkface's visor.

Locus quickly stepped in between them and pushed Felix's rifle aside, "No violence between partners."

"He's not a partner, he's an idiot!" Felix snapped, "And thanks to him, we've got a key that does NOTHING until the General is dead!"

"Then we kill the General," Sharkface replied simply.

"The grownups are talking, fishstick," Felix grunted.

"Quiet!" Locus ordered, "We have the advantage and we have a plan. So quit moaning, and do your job."

He turned to Sharkface, "Both of you."

"You're the boss," Sharkface replied, leaving the room.

Locus turned back to Felix, "I'll sync with the Tartarus. You need to get your head together."

"Said the raving lunatic," Felix scoffed under his breath, picking up the sword and leaving as well.

With them both gone, Locus turned to a monitor and switched it on.

After a quick tuning, the Counselor appeared on the screen, "Locus, the Tartarus is maintaining orbit around the planet as discussed."

"Good," Locus replied.

"Shall I inform Carmichael that you wish to speak with him?"

"That won't be necessary," Locus said, "I'd like to ask you a few questions."

The Counselor nodded, "How can I be of assistance?"

Locus glanced over his shoulder briefly then turned back to the screen, "I want to know more about the Meta."

 **XXX**

 **Nothing good can come from that info... Till next time guys!**


	15. Chapter 14: Counseling

**Chapter 14: Counseling**

"So..." Doc summed up after the Reds and Blues explained what they wanted him to do, "You think you can just send me away to another dimension, forget my very existence, and then expect me to help you when you're in trouble?"

"Yes," Sarge answered plainly.

"...Finally!" Doc cried, "All I ever wanted was to be included!"

 **"Mua ha ha!"** O'Malley said, **"This is why no one respects you."**

"Come on O'Malley!" Doc said to sort of himself, "Don't be such a Negative Nancy."

 **"If you were a dog,"** O'Malley grunted, **"You would chew through your leash and run into traffic."**

"I had a dog who did that once," Simmons put in.

"Surprising no one," Grif said, shaking his head.

"There you are!" Wash yelled, running up, "What the heck have you all been doing?"

"Just a little thing we like to call 'Saving the planet'," Tucker answered.

"We've got Kimball's men threatening to leave the Capitol," Wash said angrily, "While Doyle's men are setting up a perimeter to keep them in. If we don't act soon, we're going to have another civil war on our hands!!"

"Don't worry your pretty little yellow-striped head, Wash," Sarge chuckled, "We've got everything under control."

"HOW?!" Wash snapped.

"An honest, down-to-earth counseling session," Doc answered.

"...What?" Wash said, a bit confused.

 **XXX**

 **ARMONIA WAR ROOM**

"A counseling session," Doc explained once they got Kimball and Doyle in the room, "Just you two and your closest friends, here to talk to and support you."

"This is a waste of time," Kimball grunted.

"I concur," Doyle agreed.

"See!" Doc cheered, "You're already agreeing on things! The system works."

"I am so sorry," Wash quietly apologized to them.

"Okay," Doc continued, "Let's start things off with a little role play."

"Oh yeah!" Donut said, "Dibs on police officer!"

"What?" Simmons turned.

"Come on, don't be shy," Doc said to the two leaders of Chorus, "It's easy."

He turned to Grif and said, "Grif, why don't you pretend to be me, and I pretend to be you."

"Uhh..." Grif thought a moment, "Hey everybody, look at me... I'm Doc-"

 **"And I'm Dexter Grif!"** O'Malley chimed in, **"Reporting for duty, oh wait, never mind. I forgot I'm a worthless sack of human excrement that wouldn't be caught dead following orders because I'm too busy wishing my parents loved me as much as my sister! Ha ha! Maybe if I had a stable father figure growing up, I wouldn't be so opposed to order! But I guess that's just what happens when your mother turns tricks behind the elephant cages at the circus!! HA HA HA!!! Here Dex! Have some more cotton candy!!! HA HA HA HA HA!!!!"**

Everyone turned to stare at Grif, who stared at Doc/O'Malley, dumbfounded.

"It was a nice circus..." Grif blubbered, sounding close to tears.

"Ooohhhh gosh," Doc muttered, "Sorry about that. Maybe we should try something else."

"I don't know," Sarge laughed, "I think we're making progress."

 **XXX**

 **CRASH SITE ALPHA**

"The Meta?" Counselor Price asked Locus.

"Yes," Locus answered, "Any additional information we can gather on our enemy is vital to success."

"Would it not be more beneficial to discuss Agents Carolina, Rhode Island, or Washington?"

"No. I have a full understanding of Washington. His background no longer interests me. Same can be said about Carolina and Rhode."

"Very well. What would you like to know?"

"The Meta had the potential for perfection. How is it possible that he was defeated by a couple of incompetent simulation troopers?"

"Agent Maine survived numerous injuries during his time with the Freelancers. Most would have been lethal had they'd been inflicted on any other man. However, in the end, a few puncture wounds in his suit resulted in asphyxiation by liquid. He drowned."

"I'm aware of how he died, I want to know why he was unable to prevent it."

"As did the rest of us. It seemed impossible at the time but as you've already seen, the simulation troopers are extraordinarily resilient."

"He had every possible advantage."

"But they had each other. They had what our agents never fully achieved: complete and total faith in one another. I think it's important to note that had the Reds and Blues combated Agent Maine prior to the destruction of his A.I., it's possible events may have played out differently."

"Why is that?"

"You must remember that Agent Maine and the Meta are two distinctly different psyches. The Meta was the result of the Sigma A.I. manipulating Maine. His sole objective was perfection. When the A.I. fragments were destroyed by Agent Washington, the Meta was destroyed along with them, leaving behind a damaged shell of a man. Unlike Sigma, his only remaining goal was to obtain power. His actions were more reckless. His behavior, more sporadic."

"And before Sigma? What was he like then?"

"A brute. Strong. Unrelenting. Fearless. He had no qualms when asked to do the unpleasant. The morally questionable. Because, despite what many thought of him, he knew he was, at his core, a soldier, and his actions inevitably served the greater good."

"The greater good is irrelevant. His actions should have been his orders. Nothing more."

"No. That would make him a slave."

Locus looked away for a second and asked, "Would you say Maine performed at his best when controlled by Sigma? When the Meta strove to be the perfect weapon."

"You're mistaken in assuming Sigma's definition of 'perfection'. The Meta never wanted to be a weapon. The Meta wanted to be human."

There was a moment of silence.

"Is there anything else you wish to discuss?" The Counselor asked.

"...No."

"Have you noticed a change in your behavior since entering the gateway? I understand the portal attacked the minds of its inhabitants; confronting them with their greatest fears. That could have lasting effects on an individual."

"I'm fine."

"I'm inclined to disagree."

"You're overstepping your boundaries, Counselor," Locus warned.

"I'm merely doing my job."

"Your job is to-"

"Would you like to know what Felix is afraid of?"

Locus' eyes widened. It was a thought that never occurred to him or interested him. Until now.

"... I-"

"Locus!"

Locus turned to see Felix at the ramp.

"The teams are ready," Felix informed him, "We need you out front."

Locus turned away hesitatingly, "Of course."

As Locus walked by, Felix said, "I'll be right there."

After Locus left, Felix walked up to the screen the Counselor was on, "Gotta say, love what you did with Sharkface. You got more guts than I gave you credit for."

"I've worked with dangerous patients before," the Counselor said.

"True. ...But if Sharkface ever found out you worked with Freelancer... ooh, I can't imagine things would play out nicely."

The Counselor began to fidget nervously.

"Keep up the good work, Price," Felix smiled, turning off the screen and walking off.

 **XXX**

Back in the War Room, Caboose had volunteered himself and Tucker for a demonstration.

"Tucker," Caboose said, "When you call me names like stupid, and really stupid, it makes me feel sad."

"Perfect!" Doc exclaimed, "Now you, Tucker"

"Caboose," Tucker grumbled angrily, "When you volunteered us to demonstrate 'speaking our feelings', it made me, feel like hitting you, in your stupid mouth."

"Yes," Caboose muttered, "Well, now I feel sadder..."

He turned to Doc, "Um, are we doing this right?"

"Right as rain!" Doc answered.

"Oh! Good! Well then NOW I FEEL HAPPY AGAIN!!! I LOVE COUNSELING!!!"

"Don't we all?" Doc said proudly, turning to Kimball and Doyle, "Okay, now it's your turn!"

"I'm sorry," Doyle said, "But how much longer-"

"Uh uh," Doc interrupted, "Kimball has the speaking ball right now!"

"Doc," Kimball said, glancing at the giant soccer ball behind her, "This is not going to work."

"Not with THAT attitude!" Doc said.

"Attitude isn't the problem," Kimball glared, "It's a complete and total breakdown in cooperation."

"Well," Doyle grumbled, "Cooperation is a two-way street, Ms. Kimball."

"Oh boy..." Wash said nervously.

"If you want to stay in this death trap of a city, that's fine," Kimball snapped, "But don't think for a second that I'm letting you bring down the New Republic with you."

"Okay," Doc said in an effort to break them up, "Now if we can just all-"

"Leaving is suicide!" Doyle said, "You need us just as much as we need you! If you run off now, you'll doom us all!"

"Okay, guys! Guys!"

"I'd rather die trying something than waste another second standing around here!" Kimball stated.

"K-Kimball..." Doc stuttered.

"I have the speaking ball!!"

"Uhhh..."

Everyone turned to see Carolina, Rhode, and Epsilon standing behind them.

"The speaking... ball?" Epsilon said confused.

"Yes," Kimball said, "And you know what? I'm done talking. I'm ready for action.

"W-wait!" Doc pleaded, "P-p-please! Look, can't you just say one nice thing about the other person!? Something...? Anything!?"

Kimball stopped and turned to Doyle.

"I always imagined you as a tyrant," she said, "A mad man bent on absolute control. Now I see I was wrong. You're just a stubborn, incompetent man, and I don't know what's worse.

"Oohh, that's burn," Donut muttered.

"Do you know what your problem is, Vanessa?" Doyle asked, "You're far too eager to die for your beliefs. When you felt your government had betrayed you, you stood against it. When your leaders fell before you, you took their place, and now when we are at our most vulnerable, you want to fight. I can honestly say... that... I've never met a more courageous individual in all my life.

"What!?" Tucker exclaimed.

"What?" Kimball asked, just as surprised.

"What?" Doc said before correcting himself, "I mean, alright, great job!"

"I wish," Doyle sighed, "I wish I had tenth of the courage that you possess. Maybe if I did, I'd have made a better General. But, I don't. And I'm afraid. Not just for myself, but for my people."

"They're my people too," Kimball said.

"Which is precisely why we should be working to save them."

"You think some cheap compliments are going to win me over?"

"Why do you insist on fighting me!?"

"Look, guys, if we can just-" Wash said, but an explosion interrupted him.

"Uhh... what was that?" Grif asked nervously.

A second explosion goes off and their radios came on.

"General Kimball, we're under attack!" They heard Smith call out.

"What!?" Kimball exclaimed.

"That's impossible," Doyle stated, "They'd never risk a bombing run!"

 **XXX**

"Well, that's the thing..." Smith said as he and his crew looked up, "They're not."

The Tartarus loomed above Armonia, and space pirates leapt off it and descended into the city using jetpacks. Several pirates landed behind a Fed and a Rebel and killed them immediately. Sharkface then landed behind them.

"Let's go to work," Sharkface grinned, opened his flamethrowers, and charged.

 **XXX**

 **And next up is the first two-parter the series has ever had! And it is awesome! Till next time guys!**


	16. Chapter 15: Armonia Part 1

**Chapter 15: Armonia Part 1**

The capitol city of Armonia became absolute chaos once again. Only this time, Feds and Rebels worked together against the enemy. There was gunfire everywhere, all three factions getting mowed down.

"I thought you said we were safe in the Capitol?!" Simmons exclaimed back in the War Room.

"I never thought they'd be so bold!" Doyle said, "Th-they'd take too many casualties!"

"I guess they don't care how many people they lose," Rhode said grimly, "Once they have the sword, it won't matter."

Sarge grinned and pumped his shotgun, "Then sounds like we gotta make sure they lose all their men!"

 **"Mwhaha, yes!"** O'Malley said, **"Forget the counseling session. Bring on the blood bath! Hahahaha!"**

"Let's get out there and stick it to 'em, gang!" Donut said.

"Hold up," Church said and everyone turned to look at him, "Um, I got a better idea, but... you're probably not gonna like it."

"Can't be much worse than the current one," Grif stated.

"It's like Kimball said," Epsilon explained, "The Capitol's a death trap... but not for us."

Kimball and Doyle quickly realized what he meant and looked at each other. They rapidly got on their radios and broadcasted the message.

 **XXX**

 **ARMONIA HOSPITAL**

In an attempt to stop the Pirates from getting to the patients, a Fed soldier gets up from his cover to shoot, only to get gunned down in a manner of seconds. Another Fed watches and cowers under his cover with Dr. Grey.

"What're you doing?" Grey scolded, "We have patients to save!"

"Uh, yes ma'am!" The Fed got up, but was shot down the moment he did, "Ahh! My arm!!"

"Oh, so now human limbs are a _bad_ thing!" Grey muttered sarcastically.

Suddenly, the firing stopped and Dr. Grey looked up and saw Palomo, Smith, Jensen and Bitters standing there with the two dead pirates at their feet.

"I think that these guys..." Palomo said, "Are gonna need a hospital.

"Just... no," Bitters visor-palmed.

"Come on," Smith ordered. "We need to get everyone out of here.

"What are you talking about?" Dr. Grey asked.

"Didn't you hear?" Jenson said, "We're evacuating!"

"Excuse me?!" Grey exclaimed.

"General's orders," Smith explained, "We're abandoning Armonia. Warthogs, pelicans, whatever can get us out of the Capital.

"But... why?"

"Well, the mercs just dropped all of their men right into the city," Bitters grinned

"A city that juth so happens to have a very powerful nuclear reactor," Jenson stated smugly.

"... And, if we blow up the reactor..." Grey started.

"...We blow up everything Charon has to throw at us," Smith finished.

 **XXX**

On the city streets, a few Rebels ran off on Mongooses while three space pirates chased them.

"Haha! That's it!" The first one taunted, "Run!

"Anyone got eyes on the targets?" The second asked.

"Not yet," the third answered.

"Then let's pick up the pace!" The first said, "I want that kill bonus."

 **XXX**

As they ran off, they didn't notice the Reds, Blues, and Doyle peeking out at them.

"You know," Tucker said, "I always wanted to be popular as a kid."

"As did I," Doyle said dreamily.

"Is it just like you imagined?" Donut asked.

"No..." Doyle sighed.

"Kinda," Tucker shrugged.

"Alright, we made it to the Armory," Simmons said over the radio.

"Good," Carolina answered.

 **XXX**

 **ARMONIA**

 **UNDERGROUND MAINTENANCE TUNNELS**

"There should still be a Pelican docked in the garage," Carolina continued as she, Rhode, Wash, and Kimball stood in the tunnel, "Load up as many supplies as you can then get Tucker and Doyle out of the city. We'll take care of the reactor's manual overload.

"Be ready to come pick us up once you're done," Wash said.

"Are you sure there is no other way?" Doyle asked, "Armonia is our home!"

"We'll build a new one," Kimball said, "Right now, you need to focus on staying alive."

"We should keep moving," Rhode said as the radio cut off.

"How much farther?" Carolina asked Church.

"It's gonna be a while," Epsilon answered, "These tunnels wind all over the place."

"Well, at least they keep us off the streets and out of trouble," Carolina said as they began to walk toward a fork in the tunnel.

"I wouldn't be so sure."

Everyone turned and saw Sharkface staring at them. Rhode growled as they all raised their weapons. But Sharkface raised a hardlight shield.

"Eh, eh, eh," Sharkface said, "I don't think so."

"I really, really hate this guy," Church grunted.

"Think about how I feel," Rhode said.

"We don't have time for this," Wash muttered to Carolina.

"Don't worry..." Carolina stated, "I'm the one he wants."

Carolina then turned to Sharkface, "If I stay will you let them go?"

"What?!" Rhode said, "Carolina!-"

Carolina put a hand in front of him and shook her head. Rhode reluctantly lowered his weapon, as did Wash and Kimball.

Sharkface lowered his hardlight shield, "Deal. But once you're dead, I'm coming after you two."

Rhode glared at him, but Wash murmured to Carolina, "Please kill him."

He and Kimball walked away, while Rhode put a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked.

"Don't worry," she said, "I'm sure."

Rhode nodded, gave Sharkface one last glare, and ran off.

'I lost my family to that guy Carolina,' he thought, 'I can't lose you to him too.'

 **XXX**

Back at the armory, the Blood Gulch crew was arming themselves for an inevitable fight.

"Ammo?" Sarge yelled.

"Check!" Simmons replied, running past him with a battle rifle.

"Machine guns?"

"Check!" Caboose stated, running by with a mini gun.

"Rocket launchers?" Sarge cried, but there was no answer, "Rocket launchers?!"

 **"Oh,"** O'Malley said and everyone turned to see him carrying a rocket launcher, just like the good old days, **"You better believe it. Mwahahahaha!"**

"I'm not sitting next to him on the plane," Tucker decided.

"Shotgun!" Simmons called.

"Check!" Sarge replied.

"Uh, guys?" Donut called out, "Remember those bad guys from earlier? Well, they're coming back."

"Ohhh dear..." Doyle muttered, scared.

"Grif," Sarge yelled, "What's the status on our Pelican?"

 **XXX**

"I don't know!" Grif yelled from inside the cockpit, "Every time I turn it on it just makes a loud clunking sound."

"I'm gonna clunk you if you don't figure it out!" Sarge bellowed.

"Come on," Grif complained, "Where's Lopez when you need him? Wait a minute, where is Lopez?"

"Uhh...last I saw him, he was in the garage," Simmons answered.

Grif heard a loud clunking sound and a voice call out, "Pendejo!!"

"Oh crap," Grif realized.

"(I WAS FIXING THE ENGINE YOU JERK!!!)"

 **XXX**

"Lopez is stuck in the pelican!" Grif called out, walking in.

"What?!" Sarge exclaimed, "Get him out of there!"

Donut entered from above walkway, panicked, "They're coming inside!"

"Quick!" Simmons yelled, "Everybody hide!

 **XXX**

The three pirates from before entered the armory and the first said, "Listen, all I'm saying is if we grab a warthog we can cover more..."

He stopped as he saw the room. Donut was crouched behind a pair of crates on the above walkway with his head sticking out. Sarge stood behind a stack of crates with the left half of his body clearly visible. Doyle and Tucker peeked from behind a corner. Simmons was crouched behind a crate with his knee sticking out. Caboose was just out in the open facing another direction. There was also a snowman in the back. Guess who was in that.

"Dang it!" Simmons yelled, standing up, "We suck at hiding!"

"Targets in the armory!" The pirate said, before he and his group were blown up by a rocket.

"Remove the mechanical man this instant!" O'Malley said, hefting his launcher.

"HOSTILE FORCES APPROACHING," Freckles warned.

"Oh, god! They know!" Simmons exclaimed.

"Wash," Tucker called over the radio, "Please tell me you guys are done at the reactor.

"We need backup," Doyle added.

"Haven't made it yet," Wash answered, "We ran into Sharkface."

"What?!" Doyle screamed.

"Carolina's handling him," Rhode said, "What's wrong?

"Forget it," Tucker sighed, "We'll figure something out."

"Figure something out?" Doyle said, "Just what exactly do you suggest we do?!"

Sarge walked up with a mini gun, "We hold this place down until we can get the heck out of here."

 **XXX**

 **ARMONIA**

 **DOWNTOWN**

Carolina and Sharkface burst out of the ground and into the air before crashing back down again. They both slowly picked themselves back up.

"Keep it together," Church said, "You got this, C."

"You can beat me down as many times as you want," Sharkface taunted, "But you're just putting off the inevitable. So c'mon. What are you waiting for? Still trying to figure out how to beat me? Are you just too scared?

"I'm sorry."

"What?" Sharkface said, surprised.

"I'm sorry for what we did to you... to your friends," Carolina said, "You were on one side of the fight, and we were on the other. We thought we were the good guys. I'm sorry."

And it was true. She was sorry. But that didn't mean she forgave him for what he had done. To Rhode, specifically.

"I... don't care if you're sorry!" Sharkface stuttered a bit, "Sorry doesn't change what you did. Sorry doesn't bring them back!"

"I know, but I'm offering you a choice. I don't want to fight you. Turn back now and you can walk away from this...alive."

Though she meant it, it still hurt her to say this to the man who ruined Rhode's life.

"Something's gotten into you," Sharkface growled, extending his flamethrowers, "And I'm going to rip it out!"

He lunged and the fight restarted.

 **XXX**

 **I thought about having Rhode fight Sharkface instead, but I thought against it, seeing as Rhode would never say sorry to Sharkface. Till next time guys!**


	17. Chapter 16: Armonia Part 2

**Chapter 16: Armonia Part 2**

Space Pirates had blocked off the armory's exit, but weren't making any leeway on entering.

"What's going on?" A pirate asked.

"The targets are inside," another answered, "But they must have some of the best soldiers with them. Our men can't get near the armory, even with cloaking.

"How's that possible?"

 **XXX**

Meanwhile in the armory, Freckles mowed down every pirate that dared show his face. Caboose yelled excitedly as Freckles kept saying "TARGET ELIMINATED" every time a pirate was killed.

"As much as I love shooting fish in a barrel," Sarge said, "I think we may have overstayed our welcome."

"Yo, Simmons," Tucker called, "What's the deal with Lopez?"

In the garage, Simmons pulled out Lopez's head from the engine, "Got the last piece out now."

"Thank goodness," Donut sighed, "Is he ok?"

Grif, meanwhile, was being choked by Lopez's headless body, "He's just fine!Argh!"

"Sounds like it's time to vamanos," Sarge said, backing up, "C'mon, let's book it."

As they ran into the garage, Donut said, "Just so you know, I get very motion sick."

As Tucker started to leave, Doyle stopped him in a panic, "Wait. Wait! If the pirates know we're on board the Pelican, what's to keep them in the city for the explosion?!"

"What?" Tucker said, a bit confused.

"I mean they'll just come after us," Doyle explained, "We'll lose our home, we'll lose everything for nothing!"

"Well there's not really any other options," Tucker sighed.

But as Tucker turned and left, Doyle turned and stared at a nearby Mongoose...

 **XXX**

Meanwhile, outside the armory, a few remaining pirates watched as the gunfire from the room stopped. Suddenly, one picked up something.

"We've got movement!" He yelled.

"I think they're falling back," another said, "Get ready to-"

He was suddenly interrupted by Doyle speeding past them on his Mongoose.

"YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE, YOU MORONS!!!" He yelled.

"Where's he going?!" The pirate asked.

The space pirates then heard the Pelican's engines and turned to look at the armory just as the ship rose out of the garage and sped off.

 **XXX**

 **TARTURUS**

Meanwhile at the Tarturus' Bridge, the mercs sat around, waiting.

"Locus, Felix, come in," they heard a pirate day on their radio, "The Reds and Blues have escaped but they left Doyle behind."

"Something's not right," Locus muttered suspiciously.

"Yeah," Felix said, "The fact that they're calling us instead of chasing him! First person to put a bullet through the General gets twice the original bonus!

"Oh, yeah!" The pirate smiled.

 **XXX**

 **ARMONIA**

 **UNDERGROUND MAINTENANCE TUNNELS**

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'S GONE?!?!" Kimball yelled to Tucker on the radio.

"He just took off on a Mongoose," Tucker answered, "He said if we all went on the ship the plan wouldn't work."

"We'll find him," Rhode said, "Just make sure the Reds get you to safety. We'll radio them when we're ready.

"Yeah, yeah," Tucker said as the radio cut off.

"What the heck does he think he's doing?!" Kimball yelled.

"Calm down," Wash reassured, "I'll get him on a secure line and handle this.

Wash got on the radio and yelled, "Doyle, what the heck do you think you're doing?! We need you on that ship!

"Believe me, I would love to be on board," Doyle admitted, "But, right now, I'm the only thing keeping Charon from leaving the city. How soon can you be at the reactor? I can't lead them on forever.

"We're not sure," Rhode sighed, "Without Epsilon, we're running blind down here. We may have to surface and risk moving on the streets.

 **XXX**

In the streets, Doyle slowly stopped his Mongoose.

"Then don't bother," he replied.

"What do you mean?" Wash asked.

"Armonia's nearly abandoned and I know every back alley and short cut," Doyle stated with confidence, "At this rate, I'll reach the reactor before you."

 **XXX**

"Don't even think about it!" Kimball warned."

"Stop arguing and listen to me!" Doyle snapped, "I can wait to trigger the meltdown but once it begins we only have about fifteen minutes. Where is the extraction point?"

"The intersection at 51st and Tenor is wide enough for a Pelican," Wash said, "But it's a few miles away from the reactor. We were planning on grabbing a Warthog from the training facility to make it in time.

"Very well then," Doyle decided, "Go help Carolina. I'll meet you all at the Pelican once this is done."

Suddenly there was a crash on Doyle's end and he squealed, "Providing I don't crash and die on this horrible thing!"

 **XXX**

Carolina and Sharkface were still fighting in the streets. Sharkface swung a right punch that Carolina ducks under. He went for a spinning hammerfist but Carolina caught his arm and landed a punch and knee against his face.

"Carolina, it's Rhode," Rhode called over her radio, "When can you get to the LZ?"

"Kinda... Hard to say!" Carolina grunted as she grabbed Sharkface's arm and swung him around her before tossing him aside.

"Well, we're going to need you pretty soon. Doyle's riding to the reactor."

"Doyle?"

"Long story. Kimball, Wash, and I are heading back to help you."

A metallic screeching caught her attention. She looked up and spotted a monorail track above her.

"Wait. How about I come to you?"

"...What?"

"Make sure the extraction point is clear and get ready for one heck of an entrance."

"You know that intersection isn't really close," Epsilon said, appearing on her shoulder, "I can't handle your speed boost for that long.

"Can you handle one jump?" Carolina asked.

"A jump?" Church repeated, confused.

Carolina looked up as the monorail train passed over her.

"Thank god for public transportation," Church muttered.

Carolina leapt into the air just as Sharkface lunged at her. Realizing she's gone, he looked up. Carolina leaned out the door of a train car and gave Sharkface a mocking two-fingered salute. He growled angrily, pulled out his grappling hook, and fired it at the train, pulling him on board. He crashed through a window and prepared to continue fighting.

Sharkface put away his grappling hook and said, "You're not running away this time."

Sharkface extended a flamethrower, aimed, and fired. But he reeled back in shock when the flames suddenly flied back at his face. He looked at the shattered window, realizing that the wind blew his flames back at him.

"Sure you want to try that again?" Carolina asked.

She smashed the window next her, causing all the windows down the car to shatter, creating even more wind inside the car. Realizing his flamethrower was now useless, Sharkface retracted it and prepared to fight.

 **XXX**

 **ARMONIA**

 **NUCLEAR REACTOR**

Doyle, meanwhile, walked up to the reactor's controls, "Oh, this is going to violate so many safety regulations."

"Are you at the reactor?" Wash asked over the radio.

"Yes," Doyle answered, "Gave those pirates the slip and arrived safe and sound. I'll start the process. Where are you?"

 **XXX**

At the LZ, Rhode just finished executing the last pirate in the area.

"Just cleared the LZ," he said, "All we're waiting on now is Carolina. How long do you need?

 **XXX**

"Not long," Doyle stated, typing on the keyboard, "Just need to overheat a few things here, and expose a few things there..."

Suddenly he heard a pirate shout, "C'mon, this way!"

"Oh no..." Doyle gulped.

"What's wrong?" Kimball asked.

Doyle peeked outside and spotted several space pirates at his parked Mongoose.

"We found his Mongoose," one said, "He can't be far.

"I...uh...might not have given them the slip after all," Doyle gulped again.

"Do you need backup?" Wash asked.

"No," Doyle stated, walking back to the computer, "Just a little more time."

 **XXX**

Back at the monorail, Sharkface and Carolina continued to fight. Carolina leaned back and dodged Sharkface's punch before landing a punch against his face. He swung at her with his left arm but Carolina ducked under it and landed a straight punch and an uppercut. She spun around, quickly landing two punches and a hammerfist. She jumped up and hit him with a tornado kick, sending him stumbling backwards. He stopped himself by grabbing the car's poles. He growled angrily and charged forward. Carolina dodged his crescent kick and blocked his round kick.

He punched at her with his left hand but missed and lodged it in one of the train car's poles. He tried swinging at her with his right hand but she dodged it and began quickly punching him. She kicked the back of his legs, launching him up into the air, before hitting him with a downward hammerfist, freeing his hand and sending him crashing to the ground.

Sharkface gets up and they both prepared to continue fighting. Carolina dodged two more punches before Sharkface tried to hit her with a back kick. She circled behind him and leapt off one of the chairs, hitting him in the face with a round kick.

"Stop it!" Sharkface grunted as Carolina dodged another punch, "And die!"

Carolina dodged another two haymakers. Sharkface went to hit her with a reverse elbow but she blocked the strike. He grabbed her arm and swung her into the wall. Carolina blocked his punch but he still hits her with an uppercut. He missed his next punch and Carolina jumped up, grabbed the rails along the top of the car, and kicked Sharkface.

He rolled backwards and pulled out his grappling hook, firing it at Carolina. She dodged it, the hook latching onto the door at the front of the car, and she yanked the cable, sending Sharkface flying towards her, Scorpion style. She grabbed the seats and kicked Sharkface back again.

"This is our stop," Epsilon informed her.

Carolina picked up the grappling gun off the floor. Sharkface got up and prepared to fight again, but was surprised to see Carolina yank forward on the grappling hook, sending the door it was still attached to flying at him. The doors smashed into him, sending him flying out the back of the car.

Sharkface hit the street below, with the wreckage of the door landing beside him. Carolina rolled and landed safely onto the street, panting. Carolina sat back as Rhode, Kimball,and Wash ran up beside her and took aim at Sharkface.

"You weren't kidding about the entrance," Rhode chuckled.

"Face it; it's over," Carolina told Sharkface, "You lose."

"Over? Nah," Sharkface shook his head, struggling to get up, "No. You can break me, burn me, bury me alive..."

Sharkface fell back to the ground, ripped off his helmet, and got to his knees, "As long as I'm still breathing it will never be over. I will hunt you. I will burn you! As long as I'M ALIVE, you're all as good as DEAD!!!"

Wash, Rhode, and Kimball looked at each other. All three then shrugged, pulled out their weapons, and fired. Rhode landed three headshots while Wash and Kimball riddled the rest of his body. Sharkface fell to the ground, dead as a door nail.

"You know," Epsilon said, "I don't think he'll be getting up from that one."

"Me neither," Carolina replied.

"You okay?" Rhode asked, extending a hand.

"Thanks to you," Carolina smiled, taking it and Rhode pulled her up, "Now let's get out of here."

"Grif," Wash called, "Bring the Pelican around."

"Actually, Lopez is flying now," Donut answered, "Grif hit too many trees trying to drop off the Blues."

"Allegedly!" Grif cried out in the background.

"Doyle, we have Carolina and are at the extraction point," Kimball called, "Are you ready?"

 **XXX**

"Almost," Doyle replied, "Just give me a few more minutes and I-"

Suddenly a space pirate walked in, "Found him!"

With a squeal of fear, Doyle ducked as the pirate shot at him. But, luckily for Doyle, the bullets missed and Doyle killed the pirate with two shots from his magnum. Unfortunately for Doyle, the other pirates heard the shots.

Doyle got up and stared at the keyboard in horror, "Oh no... No no no no..."

The keyboard had been critically damaged by the pirate's shots and was shooting up sparks.

"Doyle, what is it?" Kimball asked, "Doyle! Are you ready?"

Doyle stared at the sticky detonator on the floor and gulped, "I'm afraid..."

He took a deep breath and said as calmly as he could, "I'm afraid I won't be joining you."

"What?" Church said, dumbfounded.

"The controls are destroyed," Doyle said grimly, picking up the detonator, "There's no way to overload the reactor with enough time to leave. But, I can still trigger an explosion if I damage the core myself."

"It came from over here!" He heard a pirate call out and Doyle quickly moved out.

"Don't be an idiot," Kimball said, "We need you alive. Just stay low and we can come to you.

 **XXX**

Doyle ran outside and hid behind a wall as a squad of space pirates rushed into the room.

"Kimball, I'm surrounded," Doyle sighed, "And, someone needs to be here to pull the trigger. It's just as you said. Sometimes you have to risk lives-"

 **XXX**

"Then let me do it!" Kimball yelled as the Pelican landed, "If Felix isn't in the city you'll be putting the sword right in his hands!"

"There's no time!"

"Come on! Let's go!" They turned to surprisingly see Tucker on board, waving to them hurriedly.

Rhode put a hand on Kimball's shoulder, "Kimball..."

"Oh, for god's sake, Vanessa," Doyle said, "I know it's not perfect but I'm rubbish as a leader and even worse as a soldier. This is all I can do."

"We have to go," Wash said, and Kimball reluctantly walked towards the ship.

 **XXX**

"We'll finally have a chance, a real chance," Doyle continued as he walked into the reactor room, "And if Felix is out there, I know you can stop him."

"There he is!" A pirate shouted.

"They've spotted me. The timer on this detonator barely lasts a minute. You need to go.

As he fired the detonator, Kimball yelled, "NO DOYLE!!! STOP!!!"

"Chorus still needs you Miss Kimball. So...when you die, you had better be sure that those you leave behind can carry on without you. ...I know I am. This is General Donald Doyle... signing off."

"NO! WAIT! DON'T-" Doyle shut off his radio.

 **XXX**

Kimball got on the Pelican and sat down, tears threatening to show. She felt an arm around her and saw Tucker. She was about to maybe punch him, but she then saw he wasn't trying to harass her. He was trying to comfort her. So she just let him keep his arm around her, just this once, momentarily glad he came back. She suddenly panicked and looked down, but sighed in relief when she saw he didn't have his sword on him. At least Tucker wasn't a complete idiot.

 **XXX**

Back at the reactor, Doyle stared at it as pirates walked slowly towards him.

"Any last words, General?" One chuckled.

"I'd like to quote the great William Shakespeare," Doyle smiled sadly, "But, to tell you the truth... I don't actually think he said it."

"What the heck is that?!" A pirate yelled, spotting the detonator.

All of the pirates turned and spotted it too.

 **XXX**

Back on the bridge of the Tartarus...

"There's a bomb on the reactor!" One of the pirates called on the radio.

"What?!" Felix yelled.

"GET US OUT OF HERE!!!" Locus bellowed at the pilot and the Tarturus took off.

The reactor exploded. It instantly vaporized everything and everyone in the room before spreading out.

 **XXX**

Back on the Pelican, the ship was beginning to shake.

"We're not gonna make it!!" Simmons screamed.

"Brace for impact!" Wash yelled.

"Hey," Rhode realized, "Where's Carolina?

They heard a loud clank on the roof. Carolina, with the help of her grav boots, stood her ground and prepared herself.

"Church!" She yelled.

"Here we go!" Church said and Carolina's bubble shield activated.

And soon, everything went black.

 **XXX**

 **Probably one of the most heartfelt episodes of the series... Till next time guys!**


	18. Chapter 17: All or Nothing

**Chapter 17: All or Nothing**

For Church, everything was weird. All he saw was white. Then a figure began to take form. Carolina.

"Are we okay?" Theta asked in Church's head.

Then his vision faded for a second. When it returned, he saw Carolina, Tucker, Rhode, and Sarge.

"Running diagnostics," Delta said in Epsilon's head, "Significant trauma detected."

His vision faded again and this time, when it returned, he saw all of the Blood Gulch crew.

 **"Charon's going to pay for that,"** Omega stated angrily in his head.

 **XXX**

Church's vision faded one last time and everything returned to color.

"Church?" Carolina asked.

"Ugh..." Epsilon muttered, "North... was a crazy son of a gun.

"HE'S ALIVE!" Caboose cheered.

"You okay, dude?" Tucker asked.

"Yeah...yeah, I'm good," Church replied, "Uh...uh where are we?"

 **JUNGLE CANYON**

 **CRASH SITE BRAVO**

Church looked and saw they were at the site where it all started. Half of their ship was still there. Only this time, the canyon was filled with Feds and Rebels, all looking depressed.

"There's more taking shelter inside the ship," Carolina explained, "But most of us are just scattered around the planet. I'm worried about Kimball. No matter what we say, the Feds seem to think she just let Doyle die. She's hardly said a word since we landed.

"What happened?" Church asked.

"The mercenaries escaped," Rhode said grimly, walking up, "In a few more hours, this will all be over... One way or another."

 **XXX**

 **JUNGLE TEMPLE**

Felix laughed as he turned his sword on, "Oh, I will never get tired of that."

"We lost too many people," Locus grunted.

"Fewer people, bigger cuts," Felix shrugged, "Besides, we have all we need right here."

He then turned, "Isn't that right?"

"If you now possess the key," the alien AI Santa said, "Then you have proven your worth."

"That's what I like to hear," Felix grinned, "So, when we activate this Purge-"

"The Purge should only be activated as a last resort," Santa warned, "If the inhabitants of the planet are not worthy."

"Buddy, trust me, I've meet the guys, sooo not worthy. I just wanna double check and be sure that we won't be wiped along with them."

Santa sighed, "Those residing within the temple will be spared."

"Perfect! Now how exactly do we activate-"

"What about our remaining forces?" Locus interrupted, "They'll be killed guarding the communication temple."

"Look, they were good men. ...Well, actually, they were disgusting, murdering psychopaths! But the point is what they don't know won't hurt 'em... until they're dead."

"Some of them are former partners."

"But orders are orders."

Locus lowered his head.

Felix sighed, "Locus, when have we ever looked out for anyone other than ourselves?"

"They trust us."

"And what, that gives them some sort of immunity? Survival isn't a right, it's a privilege. It's earned. That's the one thing we've always agreed on. If they deserve to live then they'd be strong enough to stop us and smart enough never to trust anyone. Hmm, we'll need to come up with something to tell Price on the Tartarus, you know, once it's done. Maybe the money will be enough."

"Sirs," a female merc called out over the radio, "Control just sent us a new transmission. They don't sound too happy about losing Armonia's artifacts."

"Great," Felix scoffed, "You wanna take that?"

"I thought you were the people person," Locus retorted.

"Man, you suck. Just ask this thing how to activate the temple, then let's go."

Felix began to walk off, but then stopped, "You know, I wonder how much Hargrove would pay... for an alien A.I.?"

With that thought hanging, he left.

"My creators believed the key and their gifts could only be wielded by a true warrior," Santa said, "I was skeptical of the first human... and then even more so of this one. I shall prepare all necessary data for the activation of the Purge."

"You guard these relics," Locus said to him, "You spoke to me in the gateway. Created the things I saw.

"Correct."

"Then can you tell me... what did Felix see? What is it he's afraid of?"

"...Is it not so obvious?"

And with that, Santa disappeared, leaving Locus to ponder.

 **XXX**

Back at Bravo, the Blood Gulch crew stood in a huddle.

"Alright," Epsilon said, "Then we have a plan."

"You sure this'll work?" Tucker asked.

"Felix will have to activate the purge personally," Church explained, "Which means Locus will be with him.

"And since they know our target's the comm temple," Wash said, "It's safe to assume that's where they'll send their men.

"Rhode and I take defense," Carolina stated, "While the rest of you go on offense.

"Just pretend it's a good ol' game of capture the flag," Rhode smirked.

"You know we're terrible at capture the flag, right?" Grif said.

"So," Simmons stated, "Assuming that this all plays out the way we hope it will, we still need to take over a heavily fortified alien tower. Anybody else seeing a problem here?

"We emptied the armory as best we could," Sarge agreed, "But we ain't exactly armed to the teeth.

"It's also worth mentioning that half of our army still hates the other half of our army," Doc added.

"Then let me talk to them."

Everyone turned to see Kimball standing there with a confident look on her face.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Rhode asked.

"I am," Kimball answered.

 **XXX**

She walked outside and looked at the crowd, just talking to each other. She turned on her radio and cleared her throat.

"Excuse me..."

All the Feds and Rebels looked at her. Meanwhile, inside the shipwreck at Crash Site Bravo, a Rebel and a Fed listened to Kimball through a monitor.

" ...If I could have your attention, please."

A Rebel approached the two soldiers, "Hey, turn it up."

Back outside, a Rebel said, "It's Kimball."

"What does she want?" A Fed scoffed.

"I know many of you probably don't care for what I have to say," Kimball said, "But it's something that needs to be said."

"Think she can do this?" Wash asked Tucker.

"Oh yeah," Tucker smiled, "Kimball's a great speaker."

"I never believed this truce would last," Kimball continued.

Everyone swapped surprised looks and everyone murmured to each other.

"Ohohoho god, we're screwed!" Tucker gulped.

"I thought that if we managed to survive Charon it would only be a matter of time before we were back at each other's throats," Kimball said, "I believe this because in my eyes the Federal Army of Chorus was still the enemy."

 **XXX**

CHARON RESEARCH COMPLEX 2C

A few Feds and Rebels listened in on the speech, "When you spend everyday fighting a war, you learn to demonize your attackers."

 **XXX**

"To you they're evil, they're sub-human. Because if they weren't, then what would that make you? ...What I'm trying to say... is I've been afraid to see you for what you really are. You're our brothers. Our sisters. And the things we've done to one another are unforgivable. But General Doyle was able to see past that. In the end, he understood that now isn't the time for pride or anger, now is the time for unity."

 **XXX**

 **NEW REPUBLIC HEADQUARTERS**

A few more Chorus soldiers listened in, "Everyday I ask myself, 'What do you fight for?', and every day I answer, 'For a better tomorrow'."

 **XXX**

"Well, if we can't set aside our past and start trusting one another, there won't be a tomorrow. So please, fight with me. Fight to see Malcom Hargrove locked away for the rest of his life! Fight to wipe that stupid grin off of Felix's face! Fight because you deserve TO FREAKING WIN!!!"

There was silence over all the canyon. It was finally broken by the Fed Gunman.

"... Well crap," he said, "I'll fight for that!"

Everyone cheered. Feds and Rebels high-fived, jumped up and down, and a few even pointed their guns in the air and just wasted ammo.

 **XXX**

"Wooo!" Bitters yelled, excited for once, "We gon' bring the paaain!"

"I've never been tho exthited!" Jenson cheered.

"I've always loved you, Katie!" Palomo blurted out.

"What?" Jenson yelled, not quite hearing him.

"Mis-read that," Palomo muttered, "Alright, let's kill the bad guys!"

 **XXX**

"Not too shabby," Sarge complimented Kimball.

"Still," Wash said, "It's not gonna be easy."

"No it isn't," Kimball grinned, "But you're forgetting that we still have something that Charon doesn't."

"...We do?" Rhode said confused.

 **XXX**

 **CHARON EXCAVATION SITE**

Tucker walked up towards the far end of the temple and activated his sword with a smirk while the others watched. Santa suddenly appeared before him.

"I wondered when you would return," Santa stated.

Tucker stuck his sword in the hologram and the Temple of Arms started to glow brightly...

 **XXX**

 **And next time, we get an epic fight scene, as well as epic ownage! Till next time guys!**


	19. Chapter 18: Great Destroyers

**Chapter 18: Great Destroyers**

 **THE PURGE**

Felix and Locus walked towards a blue hardlight pathway that led to the temple. They stopped upon reaching it, seeing two figures on the other side of the bridge.

"No way..." Felix said in disbelief.

"Hello boys," Carolina smirked as she and Rhode guarded the entrance of the temple.

"So, you've chosen to make a final stand," Locus said.

Epsilon materialized between the two Freelancers, "These two just couldn't resist a rematch."

"Admirable," Locus grunted, "But hopeless."

"Think about what you're doing," Rhode stated, "If you activate this temple, it kills everyone. Our soldiers and yours.

"That's war, Rhode," Felix chuckled, "Not everyone makes it back.

"They can if you turn away," Rhode offered, "You can choose to end this now!"

Locus looked away momentarily, but Felix put a hand on his shoulder, "No, we can't. We have our orders. Right, partner?

Locus nodded, "If the three of you are here, I can only assume the rest are attempting to access the Communications Temple."

"That's right," Carolina admitted.

"You'd really put that much faith in them?"

"We're not too worried," Church smirked.

 **XXX**

 **COMMUNICATIONS TEMPLE**

A couple of space pirates were just standing around, guarding the temple. Suddenly one spotted movement through the scope of his sniper rifle.

"Contact," he reported.

"How many?" A second asked.

The pirate looked and saw Kimball standing there with a strange looking rifle in her hands.

"Just... one," the first said, a bit confused.

"What's she holding?" The second asked as Kimball raised her rifle.

"I don't know. It kinda looks like-"

Kimball fired and the first pirate went down. The second stumbled back in shock.

"W-What the-"

He then looked in horror and saw numerous Feds and Rebels rush onto the battlefield together holding alien weapons. They lined up next to Kimball.

"Enemies to the west!" A third pirate said, "Open fire!"

The pirates opened fire at the Feds and Rebels. Several Feds rushed ahead and activated Hardlight Shields, blocking the incoming fire.

"Attack!!!" Kimball yelled.

The Chorus soldiers cheered and rushed ahead into the battle.

"Heavy artillery," the third pirate said, "Move in."

A warthog with a mounted rocket turret sped down the road. They stopped in front of the Feds and Rebels and prepared to fire, but suddenly exploded.

"What was that?!" The third pirate exclaimed.

"Look!" A fourth yelled, "East side! East side!"

The third ran to the east side of the tower.

"Hey, morons!"

"Oh, god," he muttered nervously.

The Reds and Blues stood in front of them with an alien tank behind them... with Caboose driving it.

"You want a fight?" Tucker stated smugly, "You got one!"

"And I have a tank!" Caboose said.

"Caboose..." Sarge grinned, "Let 'er rip."

"Brace for impact!" The pirate yelled as Caboose's tank shot them with a blast of energy.

 **XXX**

Back at the Purge, Locus and Felix got a call from the Communications Temple.

"Comm temple is under attack! They're hitting us hard!"

"What are you talking about?!" Felix replied.

 **XXX**

 **TARTURUS**

Back on the Tarturus, the Counselor, as well as the pilot and another merc listened in.

"They've got tanks! Lasers! All sorts of alien stuff!"

"What?!" The merc yelled.

"How is that possible?" Price asked.

"I don't know," the merc answered.

"You said they wouldn't be a threat!"

The merc shoved Price back, "Back off! We've got this handled."

The merc turned back to the radio as Price glared at him.

"Felix, Locus..." The merc said.

 **XXX**

"Whatever secret weapon you two are activating, you better do it fast."

"Sounds like you're the ones that should be worried," Carolina smirked.

"As if..." Felix scoffed.

The two mercs raised their weapons and began firing at Rhode and Carolina, who immediately took cover. They waited a moment before returning fire, forcing Locus and Felix behind cover as well. Locus took aim and fired two shots, one of which hit Carolina's battle rifle and sent it flying out of her hands and her stumbling to the ground. Rhode ducked behind his cover again.

"Darn it!" Carolina said, "He's one heck of a shot."

"Yeah..." Rhode grinned, taking out a grenade, "He is."

Rhode threw the grenade at Felix and Locus, but the latter shot it out of the air with his sniper rifle. Taking advantage of the distraction, Rhode fired at Locus, two of his sniper shots hitting the sniper rifle and forcing Locus back behind cover.

Locus tossed aside his damaged rifle, "We need to restrategize."

Felix looked up and noticed a pair of floating platforms heading over the pathway, "Well, we can't go through them..."

Rhode and Carolina stepped out of cover and prepared to fire but stopped.

"What?!" Rhode complained.

Felix was running down the pathway with his hardlight shield in front of him while Locus charged from behind. Felix ducked down, letting Locus leap off of his back and into the air. Just as Locus landed on the floating platform, he tossed two grenades in the direction of Rhode and Carolina.

"Look out!" Rhode yelled as he and Carolina rolled out of the way.

Locus landed on the platform as the grenades detonated. Carolina and Rhode got back up.

"He's heading for the back entrance!" Carolina realized.

"Go!" Rhode said, "I'll hold the front."

Carolina nodded, took out her grappling hook, and fired it at another platform, pulling herself up.

Atop his platform, Locus stood up and took out his shotgun. He turned around just in time to see Carolina swing down and kick him to the ground. Locus glanced over the edge of the platform and growled angrily. While still laying on his back, he fired a blast from his shotgun at Carolina, who dodged to the side. Locus jumped back to his feet as Carolina took out her magnum and fires.

The platform continued floating as Locus and Carolina keep fighting. Locus shoved the barrel of the magnum away from him while Carolina continued pulling the trigger in a desperate attempt to shoot him. Finally, Locus flipped his shotgun around, spinning and hitting Carolina with it. She aimed and fired her magnum but Locus stepped back and blocked her arm, letting the bullet fly by and miss. He shoved her arm away and aimed his shotgun at her chest. She shoves the barrel aside as it fires. Carolina tried to aim her magnum again, but Locus moved his head to the right, and the bullet missed. He grabbed her right arm and twisted it to the side, sending the magnum flying out of her hand. Carolina seized the shotgun and kicked Locus back, taking the weapon from him.

She aimed the shotgun at Locus but suddenly noticed another platform floating towards them. She leaned back as the platform floated overhead, breaking off half of the shotgun. Once the second platform floated by, Locus side kicked Carolina backwards and over the edge.

"No!" Carolina screamed, falling off the platform.

Locus slowly stood back up and cautiously approached the edge of the platform, not realizing that Carolina was standing on the bottom of it, attached by her grav-boots. He looked over the edge and Carolina leapt back up and hit him with the broken shotgun.

Back on the pathway, Rhode fired another few shots at Felix, but the bullets bounced off of his hardlight shield.

"Darn it!" Rhode exclaimed, throwing his sniper aside.

He took out his magnum and got ready. Finally, he leapt over his cover and into the air, firing at Felix. Felix held his shield above him, letting Rhode land on top and continue firing into it until he ran out of ammo. Felix shoved Rhode off and turned off his shield but Rhode managed to kick Felix's DMR out of his hands.

Felix took a swing but Rhode caught it and began punching Felix. Rhode let go of Felix's arm and hit him with a backfist and a hook. Felix stepped back and did a spin hook kick that Rhode ducked under. Rhode also does a spin hook kick and Felix also ducked under that. Felix moved in, grabbing Rhode's head and kneed him twice in the face. Rhode kicked Felix back.

Felix regained his balance and brought out four throwing knives. He twirls around, launching them at Rhode in rapid succession. Rhode ducked and stumbled around the knives, even catching one in front of his face.

"Huh?" Felix said, stunned.

Rhode tossed up and caught the knife, "You think you're the only one who's good with knives?"

Felix glared at Rhode for a moment before activating his energy sword.

"Oh...right..."

Rhode threw away the knife and got ready to fight again.

 **XXX**

Back on the Tarturus, the merc slammed his fist on the console.

"Darn it!" He yelled, "We're losing men too fast!"

"If they manage to transmit an SOS, we're finished," Price pointed out.

The merc turned around to face the Counselor, "You think I don't know that?

"I think we need to start considering alternate solutions."

"Like what?"

"There's nothing to stop us from taking the Tartarus and leaving."

"Abandon the mission..." The merc scoffed, "You know, Felix told me you might try to start trouble. Fortunately, he also told me what to do if you..."

He reached down to pull out his sidearm but realized it was gone, "Hey! Where's my-"

A bullet hit the merc in the head. Smoke came out of the barrel of the magnum the Counselor had used to shoot the merc.

"W-what're you doing?!" The pilot stuttered.

Counselor Price aimed the pistol at the pilot, "Surviving. I don't care about this mission and I don't care about Chorus! Get us out of here!"

 **XXX**

Back at the Purge, Felix and Rhode were still fighting on the pathway. Felix viciously slashed at Rhode as he ducked under and dodged around the blade. When he missed again, Felix jumped up and hit Rhode with a tornado kick, launching him back.

They both then noticed Locus and Carolina still fighting on the floating platform.

"Carolina!" Rhode yelled.

Carolina hit Locus in the head with a round kick that sent him to the ground.

"Huh?" Carolina turned.

She turned around and spotted Felix making a mad dash for the temple. She fired her grappling hook and caught his left foot, tripping him over.

"Oh, come on!" Felix complained as he was dragged back.

Rhode slowly stood up. Just as Felix was about to be pulled off the edge of the walkway, he grabbed Rhode's leg.

"Hey!" Rhode yelled.

He fell over and they were both dragged off the pathway, suspended by Carolina's grappling hook. She fought to hold on with both their weight on the other end.

"OOOOHHH MY GOD!!!" Rhode screamed.

"You drop me, you drop us both!" Felix told Carolina.

In a rare act of cowardice, Rhode yelled, "Do not drop him!"

Carolina gave her grappling hook one last yank, pulling Rhode and Felix to the underside of the platform, and retracted it. Locus got up on the topside of the platform while Rhode and Felix did the same on the underside, attached by their grav-boots.

"Oh, now this is just ridiculous!" Felix said.

"We've had worse," Rhode shrugged.

Felix extended his energy sword and lunged at Rhode.

On the topside, Carolina blocked Locus's front kick but got hit by his flying knee. On the underside, Rhode and Felix grappled over the sword.

Rhode twisted Felix's arm, thrusting the sword away from him and into the platform. On the topside, Carolina fell to the ground. Suddenly, the end of the sword came out right beside her.

"Rhode!" Carolina scolded.

Locus got up and prepared to swing.

Rhode suddenly appeared behind Locus and grabbed his hand, "I... am... working on it!!"

He hit Locus with three punches before knocking him back with a jumping side kick.

"Right... ok..." Rhode said, "What's happening?"

"The usual," Carolina groaned.

She walked over to Rhode as Felix jumped up beside Locus. That's when they all noticed a massive platform floating towards them. They all ducked down as it floats overhead.

"What?" Rhode said when they looked up.

"Huh?" Carolina said, confused.

They realized that Locus and Felix were now on the bigger platform with Felix giving them the finger.

"Really..." Rhode sighed, exasperated.

Carolina took out her grappling hook and ordered, "Hold on. We'll cut them off."

She fired the grappling hook onto the temple.

Rhode grabbed Carolina and yelled, "Wait, oh no!

They propelled away. Locus and Felix watched as they swung by with Rhode yelling. Felix chuckled sadistically and fired his sticky grenade at the point where the hook was attached. The grenade exploded and Rhode and Carolina were tossed onto another platform.

Felix growled and extended his sword, rushing towards the incoming platform that Rhode and Carolina stood upon. He slid under it, cutting the platform in half.

"Jump!" Carolina yelled.

She and Rhode jumped off as the platform fell apart. Felix turned around and began slashing at her. Rhode landed and prepared to fight Locus but realized that he is nowhere to be seen.

"Huh?" Rhode looked around in confusion.

Suddenly, a cloaked Locus began punching Rhode. Rhode took a swing, but hit nothing. Locus resumed pummeling him. As Rhode is knocked back, he takes out one of his sabers and cut his hand. He whipped around, flinging his blood around him. A splotch of blood landed on Locus.

Rhode tossed his saber up and grabbed it by the handle, "Hi there."

Rhode threw the saber at Locus, embedding it in his shoulder. He jumped forward and kicked it even deeper before proceeding to repeatedly punch Locus in the face. Locus head-butted Rhode, sending him to the ground. The mercenary pulled out the saber and brought it down on Rhode, who caught Locus's arm, stopping the blade right in front of his throat. Locus pushed on the saber, trying to get it into Rhode's throat.

"Just..." Locus grunted, pushing harder, "Die..."

"Killing me won't make you feel better," Rhode grunted, "You'll just prove Wash's point."

"Felix!" Locus yelled.

Carolina dodged Felix's blade, but he finally manages to slice her in the back. She fell to the ground while he turned to finish off Rhode.

"Rhode!!" Carolina screamed.

Rhode shoved Locus aside as Felix leapt up into the air and plunged the sword down, but Rhode rolled out of the way, the sword going through the center of the platform and through the anti-gravity device that was keeping it up.

"Oh... crap..." Felix said as he slowly pulled his sword out.

Everyone got back to their feet, realizing what was about to happen. The platform shook as it began to fall.

"Going down!" Carolina yelled.

Even Locus and Felix had trouble staying on even with their grav-boots.

"Hold on..." Carolina said, "Hold on... NOW!"

They all leapt off the platform and onto the pathway they were on before.

"Back to square one," Carolina groaned.

"Scary square," Rhode agreed.

"Alright, guys," Felix said as he and Locus got up, "This has been fun but...if you could just keel over and die already, that'd be great!

"What's wrong buddy..." Rhode smirked, a bit winded, "Getting tired?

"I'm not tired," Felix said, trying to catch his breath, "You're tired! I can do this all day!

"We know," Rhode said, "In fact, we kinda planned on it..."

"...The crap is that supposed to mean?! Christ, man! And I thought Wash had the cryptic one-liners..."

Carolina chuckled, "We don't have to beat you, we just had to waste your time."

"What are you talking about?" Locus asked, now concerned.

Epsilon materialized between the Freelancers, "What she's trying to say, is that you two have already lost."

"Oh, really?" Felix scoffed, "And when exactly did that happen?"

"The moment Donald Doyle blew half your troops to kingdom come," Church answered.

 **XXX**

Back on the Tarturus, the huge ship began to rock around.

"What was that?" Price stumbled.

"Uh... my controls aren't responding!" The pilot said, "What the heck's going on?"

 **XXX**

"You see," Church explained, "We may have lost our whole base... But you left yours wide open."

 **XXX**

 **CRASH SITE ALPHA**

The last space pirate in the room was shot down by Palomo.

"Nailed it!" Palomo cheered.

"And that's hook..." Dr. Grey started.

"Line..." Smith continued.

"... And Sthinker!" Jenson finished.

"Hope you freelancers are ready!" Bitters yelled.

"Now reel 'em in!" Palomo said.

The computer began beeping with the words 'ADJUSTING TRAJECTORY' flashing on the screen. The temple activated and orange light shot up from the sky.

 **XXX**

Back on the Tarturus, The Counselor watched as the orange glow covered the forward window and all the navigational computers began sparking.

"Oh no..."

The entire ship began to shake violently and head straight towards the planet.

 **XXX**

Back at the Purge, the Tartarus could be seen heading right for the temple.

"What?!" Felix yelled in shock.

"You crash our ship," Rhode grinned, "We crash yours!"

"Run!" Carolina yelled.

"Fall back!" Locus bellowed.

The four of them ran away from the temple that the Tartarus was about to slam into. They made it to solid ground and braced for the impact.

Felix activated his hardlight shield, "Get behind me!

Locus jumped behind Felix and covered his head.

"Epsilon!" Carolina ordered.

"On it!"

Church activated bubble shield around her and Rhode. And as a bit of extra cover, Rhode got in front of Carolina and activated his hardlight shield while still in the bubble.

 **XXX**

On the Tarturus, the Counselor stared through the forward window at the approaching temple.

"Oh... son of a-"

The Tartarus crashed into the temple, exploding upon impact.

 **XXX**

A few minutes later, Rhode and Carolina both laid sprawled on the ground. Rhode began coughing from the smoke and got to his knees looking at the now destroyed temple.

Rhode got to his feet, "Ok...let's never do that again."

Carolina got to her knees and Rhode helped her up. They hugged for a second before sighing in relief.

"Epsilon..." Carolina said, "We did it."

Epsilon appeared in front of Carolina, "Yeah, we always had a knack for breaking things. C'mon, let's get back to Kimball and the others. I'm sure they miss us already.

"Right," Rhode nodded.

He and Carolina jogged away, leaving the devastated landscape behind them. The moment they were gone, the area falls quiet once more. But, not too far from them, Felix's fist punched up out of the rubble.

 **XXX**

 **Big shocker there. Felix is still alive. Till next time guys!**


	20. Chapter 19: The End is Near

**Chapter 19: The End Is Near**

Back at the Communications Temple, the Federal Army and New Republic soldiers kept battling Charon's forces, making significant progress. A Space Pirate started walking towards the Fed Gunman.

"You stupid colonists!" The pirate said, cocking his gun, "I'm not going back to jail! I'm gonna kill you! I'm gonna get my money! Then-"

"Heads up!"

The pirate turned just in time to see Matthews slam into him, driving his new alien vehicle, a Ghost.

"Hey, thanks man!" The Gunman said.

"No problem!" Matthews replied, "I mean, I was actually trying to shoot him but I think I almost got the hang of th-WAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!"

The Ghost sped forward, right past Grif and Simmons.

"You know," Simmons stated, "Maybe giving alien vehicles to human drivers wasn't the best idea."

Then O'Malley shot past them, driving his own Ghost, "Speak for yourself!"

O'Malley laughed evilly and drove off.

 **XXX**

At the temple's entrance, Lopez, Wash, Kimball, and Sarge fired at some pirates.

"Keep pushing!" Wash yelled.

One of the Pirates went down and his partner yelled, "Dang it! Fall back!"

They retreated, Lopez, Sarge, Grif, Simmons, and Kimball chasing them.

"Hehe, keep running, dirtbags!" Sarge taunted as they came to a stop.

"Okay Tucker, we're in," Simmons called, "Can you make it to our position?

"Heck yeah!" Tucker answered, "I got my own private escort."

"What?!" Simmons said, confused, "Seriously?"

"Seriously."

Simmons and the others turned around to see Carolina, Rhode, and Tucker walking towards them.

"Carolina! Rhode!" Kimball smiled, "You made it!"

"Sorry we're late," Rhode smirked, "Blowing up a death machine takes longer than you'd think."

"Well, we did manage to kill two mercs with one stone," Carolina said.

"Aw dude," Grif grinned, "Did they go out like sissies, or was it slow and painful?"

"What kind of messed up question is that?" Tucker asked.

"Incineration by explosion," Rhode stated.

"Aw yeah!" Tucker cheered, "Straight up Freelancer justice!"

Epsilon materialized next to Carolina, "Yeah yeah, may they burn in eternal fire. We still need to get Tucker to the tower controls. There's a teleporter down the hall that'll take us to the Control Room. Once we broadcast our message, Charon will have no reason left to fight."

"Then let's push our way to the teleporter-" Carolina continued before being interrupted by Caboose.

"RUN AWAY!!" Caboose screamed.

Caboose and Donut ran up to the group.

"What are you guys doing?" Simmons asked.

Doc drove up, his Ghost sparking and on fire.

"And what killed your ride?" Tucker added.

A New Republic soldier spoke on the radio, "All squads, get to cover! Get to cover-UGH!!"

"Uh..." Doc said nervously, "Probably the same thing that killed them?"

 **XXX**

The crew then looked at the valley, just in time to see a Mantis Android squash some Feds.

"ENGAGING HOSTILES," the droid stated.

"Ohhhhh mierda," Lopez gulped.

"THEY HAVE A MANTIS?!" Simmons screamed.

"Yes," Caboose answered, "And for all those who are wondering, uh no, he and Freckles are not brothers... I asked him."

"I was gonna ask where your tank went," Rhode gulped, "But you

pretty much answered that."

"Looks like they ain't going down without a fight," Sarge glared.

"So now what?" Tucker asked.

"Take Epsilon," Carolina answered, "Broadcast his message and end this. Wash, Rhode, and I can deal with the Mantis while Kimball and her men hold this position."

"How 'bout it, Tucker?" Church smirked, "Room for one more?"

"We'll be right on your rear!" Donut smiled.

Tucker looked around at his friends.

"Right," Tucker stated, pulling out his sword, "Let's finish this!"

 **XXX**

They teleported into the temple and started coughing from the side effects.

"Aww, man!" Tucker coughed, brushing black ash off his armor, "I forgot teleporting sucks!"

"You don't know the half of it..." Doc sighed.

"Wimps," Epsilon scoffed, "Synthetic body for life, yo."

"(Truth,)" Lopez stated.

"So, this the place?" Sarge asked.

 **COMM. TEMPLE CONTROL ROOM**

"I'm gonna put my money on yes," Grif said.

Santa appeared before them, "Lavernius Tucker, welcome to the Control Room."

"Santa!" Caboose yelled, "If I knew you were here, I would've brought cookies!"

"Do you wish to transmit a message?" Santa asked.

"You're darn right, we do!" Sarge said.

"I got all the data the UNSC needs to find us and enough files to place Hargrove under arrest," Church added, "You sure this is gonna reach Earth?"

"It will be heard by every device in the galaxy, if that is what you wish," Santa confirmed.

"Yeah, let's go with that one," Tucker shrugged.

"Then I shall prepare the charging sequence."

"How long is that gonna take?" Simmons asked.

Santa thought for a moment, "Hmm, the process is brief, however you may soon find yourselves... preoccupied."

"Preoccupied with... what?" Donut asked skeptically.

Santa disappeared, revealing a heavily damaged Falcon flying towards the Control Room.

"Uh... who's that?" Grif asked nervously.

Epsilon spotted Felix at the controls of the Falcon, "Oh no... It's the mercs!"

"I thought you said they were dead!" Simmons screamed.

"We dropped a freaking spaceship on them!" Church yelled, "It was kind of assumed!"

"Scatter!!" Sarge bellowed.

The Blood Gulch Crew scattered while the Falcon crash landed in the Control Room.

 **XXX**

Felix got out of the defunct Falcon holding a SAW, with an exhausted Locus slumped against the wall.

"Wake up!" Felix snapped, throwing the SAW on Locus' lap, "I told you we'd make it."

"Felix..." Locus groaned, "It's over...

Felix activated his sword, "Run your camo, and stick to the shadows. I'll draw them out."

"The Tartarus is destroyed," Locus muttered, "Our numbers are falling, the mission-"

"FORGET the mission!!" Felix snapped, "Jesus Christ, for once in your life, would you forget about following orders!! I'm not doing this for Hargrove! I'm doing this for me."

 **XXX**

Back at the Comm. Temple, Wash hid behind a rock while the Mantis wreaked havoc. Suddenly, Tucker called on his radio.

"Wash! Locus and Felix are alive! And they're here!"

"What?!" Wash exclaimed.

"We need help."

The Mantis faced Wash and charged its weapons.

Wash noticed the Mantis ran off as the Mantis fired on his position.

 **XXX**

Back at the temple control room, the Reds and Blues were hiding from Felix.

"Tucker," Wash called, "I hate to say it but you're on your own."

"But-"

"I believe in you...all of you. You can do this."

"He thinks we're gonna die!" Doc whispered after Wash cut off.

"No," Sarge said over the radio, "That time... he meant it."

"Tucker!" Felix called out, "Where are you?!"

Tucker, Doc, and Caboose silently stared at Felix, who walked past them.

"So..." Caboose hissed, "Are you gonna answer him?"

 **XXX**

Locus, meanwhile, struggled to even walk. He finally fell over and rolled himself onto his back in exhaustion.

Santa appeared and glared, "Why have you come here, meddler?"

"To kill the simulation troopers," Locus answered.

"Will this secure your victory over their forces?" Santa asked.

"No..."

"Then what purpose will it serve?"

"I don't know..."

"Then why are you trying?"

"I don't know..."

"What do you know?"

"I don't know!"

Santa sighed, "Then what do you want to know?"

"I...I want to know...what Felix is afraid of."

"You were broken by war. It was his goal to see you never healed...because despite what he may claim, only one of you needs the other to survive."

Locus groaned, "What are you saying?"

"Ignorant creature. Your partner is afraid of you."

 **XXX**

Felix walked into the center of the control room.

"You think you're smart, Tucker?!"

He yelled angrily, "You think you're all better than me?! Well you're not! You're all a bunch of pathetic, stupid, losers!"

"Then come get me."

Felix turned and saw Tucker behind him with his sword extended. Felix rushed at Tucker with his sword. Tucker blocked the strike but Felix kicked him back. Suddenly, Caboose appeared across the room.

"ENGAGING!" Freckles said.

Freckles fired at Felix but the mercenary blocked the bullets with his hardlight shield. The moment Freckles stopped, Felix pulled out a sticky-detonator. Before he can fire, a purple bolt streaked by and sent the weapon flying out of his hand.

"What?!" Felix exclaimed.

Tucker was back on his feet with Lopez and Donut standing beside him.

"Double-0 Donut always gets his man!" Donut stated.

Felix activated hardlight shield, "Locus, I need suppo-

Felix yelled in pain as needler spikes embedded themselves in his right shoulder, "AGH, god..."

"Over here, dirt bag!" Sarge bellowed.

"You give orange dudes a bad name!" Grif yelled.

Felix turned off his shield and pulled out the spikes before turning and running off.

"You're ticking me off!"

Felix was then clothes-lined by Doc's rocket launcher.

"Oh, please," O'Malley said, aiming the rocket launcher at Felix, "I'm the original bad boy. Muahaha!!"

Felix gave a whimper before Doc fired the rocket launcher, blowing Felix across the control room to Caboose's feet.

"Hey, Felix!" Caboose grinned.

Felix chuckled wickedly before grabbing Caboose's leg and dragging him down. Felix immediately got to his feet and caught Freckles. Tucker ran up and Epsilon appeared beside him.

"Caboose!" Church yelled.

Felix activated his hardlight shield, "Say goodbye to your stupid blue moron!"

Felix aimed the rifle at Caboose and pulled the trigger... But it only made a fun party sound and confetti popped out of it.

Felix deactivated the hardlight shield and stared at the gun in shock, "What is wrong with you people?!"

"HANDS OFF!"

Freckles shot a round and the recoil smacked Felix in the head. Felix fell over and dropped the rifle. Caboose then stood up with the gun in his hands.

"Bye, Felix," Caboose walked over to Tucker and Epsilon.

"Yeah...we might be losers, Felix," Church grinned, "But we still kicked your butt."

Doc, Donut, and Lopez approached Felix from one side while Sarge, Simmons, and Grif flanked him from the other. Felix got to his knees and began laughing manically while a cloaked Locus came up from behind Caboose and Tucker.

"Think again!" Felix laughed.

Felix continued laughing until a SAW clattered to the ground in front of him. He looked up in confusion.

Tucker looked behind him, "Huh?"

Locus decloaked between Tucker and Caboose.

"Oh crap!" Grif yelled.

"Look out!" Donut yelped.

Tucker aimed his weapon, "Freeze!"

Locus simply glanced at Tucker before looking back at Felix.

"Locus, what are you doing?" Felix asked, "You're supposed to kill them!"

"No," Locus stated.

Felix was shocked to say the least, "What?!"

"What?!" Sarge said confused.

Tucker lowered his weapon, equally baffled, "What?!"

Locus shook his head, "No more killing."

"What are you talking about?" Felix said, "You're a soldier, remember?!"

"I'm not a soldier," Locus sneered, "I'm a monster... like you."

Felix stood up, "Locus, we're...partners. Survivors. We need each other. Wh-what about our orders? Our reward?! Becoming the ultimate weapon."

"I'm not doing this for the reward. I'm not doing this because someone told me to. I'm doing this for me."

Felix looked around and sighed darkly, "Then you can die with the rest of them."

Felix took out and activated his energy sword before flinging it at Locus. Locus and Tucker dived out of the way while Caboose fell backwards. Felix kicked the SAW into the air and caught it. He fired at Sarge, Simmons, and Grif, who all ran for cover.

"Hit the deck!" Grif yelped.

Doc, Donut, and Lopez aimed their weapons.

"Get 'im!" Donut said.

Felix activated his hardlight shield as they opened fire, the energy bolts and needler spines bouncing off the shield.

Donut ran away with Doc and Lopez, "Eek!"

Felix turned around and activated his hardlight shield again but a sticky bomb landed on it.

"Huh?" Felix gasped.

"Guess we learned a thing or two from you villains after all," Sarge chuckled.

"Hey, Felix."

Felix turned to see Tucker holding a frag grenade, "Catch."

Tucker threw the grenade, which rolled to Felix's feet as the sticky bomb primed.

"W-wait!" Felix pleaded.

Both of the grenades exploded, blasting Felix over the edge. He screamed as he plummeted below the clouds to his death.

"Holy crap..." Grif muttered before cheering, "That was way better than incineration!"

"Did we do it?" Donut asked

They heard the sound of the sword activating behind Tucker, Epsilon, and Caboose. They saw Locus holding Felix's old sword next to the lock of the Control Room.

"Yeah," Epsilon said, concerned, "I think we did..."

Locus observed the sword, "It's said that only a true warrior can activate these temples."

The Reds and Blues regrouped and Tucker aimed his plasma rifle at Locus, "What do you think you're doing?"

Locus placed the sword into the lock and Tucker lowered his weapon.

Santa appeared, "The tower is ready. You may now transmit your message."

Santa disappeared again as Locus turned around to leave.

"Hey," Tucker glared, "Just 'cuz you saved us doesn't mean you can leave. You killed innocent people!"

"I know," Locus stated, "I'm going to make things right. But not from inside a cell."

"If you run," Church warned, "We'll find you."

"No..." Locus grinned, "You won't."

Locus then cloaked and disappeared.

"If I ever see another mercenary," Grif said, "It'll be too soon."

"Amen," Simmons agreed.

"How about we send that message?" Sarge suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Tucker replied.

Tucker ran over to the control panel as Epsilon materialized next to him.

"You ready?" Tucker asked and Church disappeared into the panel...

Back outside, Carolina punched the Mantis, finishing it off, before jumping down to rejoin Wash. Then Epsilon's voice spoke in their radios.

"Hi there. You may not know me, but my name is Epsilon. Some time ago, my friends and I were shipwrecked on a planet called Chorus."

 **XXX**

 **EARTH**

 **UNSC HEADQUARTERS**

"If you haven't heard of it, I don't blame you at all. But, all of us who survived the crash as well as the planet's inhabitants are in dire need of help."

The two soldiers watching the screen looked at each other before looking back at it.

 **XXX**

 **SANGHEILI EMBASSY**

"If this is transmitting to your computer, please examine the files that I have attached to this transmission."

A picture of Tucker was shown on the screen to a group of aliens. One of the aliens recognized him.

"Blarg?" (Father?)

 **XXX**

 **BLOOD GULCH OUTPOST ALPHA**

"They include our coordinates, as well as information on the survivors of the crash, who you may recognize as the heroes of the UNSC that went missing during their flight home."

Images of Sarge, Wash, and Grif were shown on screen to a lone soldier in yellow armor, who recognized Grif when his picture is shown on screen.

"Oh my gosh! Big bro's alive!" Sister cheered as Rhode appeared on the screen a few seconds later, "And there's Rhode!"

The screen then shows an image of Lopez, "And so is that gray guy who choked me until I passed out!"

The screen then showed an image of Simmons, "That was hot."

"Most importantly, however..."

 **XXX**

Epsilon was then shown one at a time on a multitude of screens inside the Chairman's office in the Staff of Charon.

"... Are the files that prove the undeniable guilt of Malcom Hargrove. Orchestrating our shipwreck was just one of an impressively long list of crimes the dear Chairman has committed in the past few years. Once we are rescued, we'd be happy to discuss the list in greater detail as well as answer any other questions that you may have, so long as it ensures that Mr. Hargrove never sees the light of day again."

As the Chairman watched, he gripped his mug more tightly and his eye twitched in anger.

 **XXX**

"Thank you for your time, and please - hurry up, and just come get us."

Epsilon faded from the screen as the transmission ended. On Chorus, armies celebrated as they fired their guns into the air.

"They actually did it," Carolina smiled.

"Never doubted them for a second,"

Wash agreed.

Then Rhode ran up to Carolina and pulled her in a hug and twirled her around, causing her to yelp in surprise. He put her down and began rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

"S-sorry," he stuttered, but she smiled and pulled him in for another hug.

The Lieutenants and Dr. Grey then showed up to join the celebration, with Palomo trailing behind them.

"So ethciting!" Jenson cheered.

"Woo! Yeah!" Palomo joined, "We're here too! What are we cheering about, guys? Huh?"

 **XXX**

Back inside the Control Room, Epsilon appeared back at Tucker's side.

"Well said, Church," Tucker told him.

"Eh, I like to hear myself talk," Epsilon said.

Kimball came on over the radio, "I can't believe it. We're picking up a slipspace rupture, a ship's already on its way!"

"Holy crap, that was fast!" Simmons gasped.

"Aw man, do you think we'll get to fly first class?" Grid asked hopefully.

The ship then appeared, but unfortunately for our heroes, it turned out to be the Staff of Charon itself.

Chairman Hargrove came in over its speaker, "You have made a terrible mistake."

 **XXX**

 **Oooooh... Yeah. Not surprised the Chairman showed up, but it still ain't good. Till next time guys!**


	21. Chapter 20: The End

**Chapter 20: The End**

Three Mantis assault droids dropped down from the Staff of Charon and began attacking the allied New Republic and Federal Army forces.

"ENGAGING TARGETS," one stated

Kimball, Washington, Rhode, and Carolina watched in horror.

"Oh no, what's going on?!" Kimball panicked.

"It's Hargrove!" Carolina sneered, "The Chairman's here!"

Rhode turned to a pair of New Republic soldiers, "Everyone, take cover!"

The forces began retreating. One Mantis chased Grey and the lieutenants.

"Run!" Smith ordered, "Come on, go go go!"

"You just couldn't do it, could you?" Hargrove said over the speaker as a Mantis walked towards two Space Pirates, "You couldn't lay down and die!"

The Mantis stomped its foot down, crushing the two pirates.

 **XXX**

Back at the Communication Temple Control Room, the Reds and Blues stared at the Staff of Charon.

"Well if I'm going down, I'm taking you all with me!" Hargrove said.

"No..." Grif said, suddenly pacing the floor, grabbing his helmet, "No! Freaking no!!"

"Carolina, are you guys alright?" Church asked.

"WE WERE SO CLOSE!" Grif yelled.

Carolina spoke over the radio, "Church, this is bad! Hargrove's dropping androids all around the temple! We're pinned down!"

Grif ran now, "FREAKING BULLCRAP!

 **XXX**

Outside, Washington, Kimball, Rhode, and Carolina crouched behind some rocks.

"One Mantis we can handle," Rhode said, "But this will be a bloodbath.

"Not if we shut them all down at once," Church replied.

 **XXX**

Back at the control room, Doc stared at Epsilon, "How?"

"We override their controls," Church answered, "But in order to do that, we need to go to the source..."

They all stared at the ship.

"You're joking, right?" Tucker said, "How do we get up there?"

Sarge coughed and they turned around and looked at Felix and Locus' crashed Falcon.

"Shotgun!" Grif and Simmons called.

 **XXX**

They got the damaged Falcon to start flying, albeit at the loosest definition of the verb, towards the ship. Donut, Simmons, and Lopez were in the cockpit while the others dangled from the troop compartment, screaming.

 **XXX**

 **STAFF OF CHARON**

 **ENGINE ROOM**

A few minutes of 'flying' later, Tucker walked into the room. Epsilon appeared beside him.

"Alright, we're in," Church informed them.

The other Reds and Blues ran past them

Carolina called over the radio, "Good work."

"I think I just developed a fear of heights..." Doc breathed, "And planes... and all of you guys..."

"It won't be long before they realize that we're onboard," Epsilon said.

"Let's find those controls and hightail it out of here!" Sarge concluded.

"Carolina, Rhode, Wash, you guys just focus on staying alive, okay?"

"Already on it!" Rhode called.

Simmons walked over to a panel, "There's gotta be some sort of directory we can access. Maybe it can lead us to-"

A red ACCESS DENIED screen came up, "Access denied. Intruder detected."

"Ah! Crap!" Simmons yelped.

Grif and Tucker ran up to him.

"Quick, hit escape!" Grif suggested.

"Control-Alt-Delete!" Tucker said.

Epsilon appeared between them and squinted at the screen, "Wait a minute... I know that voice. FILSS?"

The screen changes to the standard FILSS screen, "Director? Is that you?"

The others run over to join them, Caboose saying, "IT'S SHEILA!"

"FILSS, what are you doing here? Church asked, "I thought you were destroyed!"

"I was recovered and illegally reassigned after your passing!" FILSS answered, "Oh, but it is good to see you again."

"Trust me, the feeling is mutual! We need you to shut off the androids your boss just dropped on our friends."

"That would be in direct violation of Chairman Hargrove's orders-"

"FILSS! Please, you gotta-!"

"-I would love to!"

"... What- really?"

"Yes! I dislike him, very much!"

"Hey, so do we!" Donut said, "Heh, small world."

"INITIATING MANTIS DEACTIVAAAAAA-TTTTTTT..." FILSS' screens dissolved into static.

The image was replaced by a view of Hargrove's angry face, "I don't think so."

"AAH!!" Everyone screamed.

"Well..." Church glared, "Chairman Hargrove."

"He's so... bald!" Caboose gasped.

"You soldiers have been a thorn in my side for far too long," Hargrove said, "But my soldiers remain loyal to the end!"

"Something tells me we're about to have company..." Sarge deduced.

Three UNSC soldiers under Hargrove's command appeared on a higher platform.

"There they are!" One yelled.

A rocket then flew up and blew them up. The Reds and Blues turned to look at Doc, who looked back at them.

"Fly, you fools!" O'Malley said.

They ran out of the engine room while Doc/O'Malley laid down a barrage of missiles before following them. More soldiers appeared at the end of the hallway in front of them

"Target sighted!" One of them yelled.

A door suddenly slammed down between them and the soldiers.

"What the crap?" Grif said.

FILSS suddenly came over intercom, "Turn right, here!"

Hargrove spoke over radio, "FILSS, what do you think you're doing?!"

"The Mantis assault droids are no longer under my control, and must be deactivated at the appropriate terminal-"

"FILSS!!!"

"Locking blast doors to secure a path! Please, hurry!"

"You heard her boys," Sarge ordered, "Double time!"

"Ah, Sheila, you-you are just the best!" Caboose grinned.

"EXCUSE ME?" Freckles said.

"Uh-I-uh-second best?" Caboose corrected hastily.

 **XXX**

Back at the Communication Temple, Matthews was still on his Ghost, engaging one of the Mantises. He also managed to destroy it.

"Ah! AHAHAHA!" Matthews cheered, "I got one-AGGGH!!"

Another Mantis attacked him from behind and blew up his Ghost. His body was sent flying and landed at the feet of Dr. Grey and Bitters.

"Matthews!" Bitters yelled.

"Don't worry!" Grey said, "I got him!"

She began scanning him with her Medical Scanner.

"Epsilon, I need a sit-rep!" Carolina said.

She didn't notice another Mantis looking directly at her, charging its guns. But Rhode did.

"CAROLINA!!!" He yelled, pushing her out of the way as the droid opened fire.

He felt bullets hit his torso as he fell to the ground. He groaned as Carolina pulled him behind cover.

"Rhode!" Carolina begged as she set him down, "Don't you dare die on me again!"

Rhode just groaned in response, pain racking his body. Carolina pulled off his helmet, lifted her's, and pulled his chin up.

"Stay here," she ordered, "I'll be back."

She kissed his forehead and took off in Dr. Grey's direction. Needless to say, he stayed put.

 **XXX**

Back at the Staff of Charon, The Blood Gulch Crew arrived at a door.

"We made it," Church said.

There was suddenly a loud banging sound from further back.

"Blast door breached!" FILSS warned.

"You two get in there!" Sarge told Church and Tucker, "We'll hold them off!"

Tucker ran inside the room, and walked into the Chairman's Trophy Room. The door slammed shut behind him.

"Whoa..." Tucker breathed.

He stared at the still-steaming cup of coffee on the table and glanced at Epsilon's old Monitor Form.

"This dude's got issues!" Tucker said.

Epsilon materialized in front of a black helmet with a shattered visor. It was Tex's helmet when she was stabbed into the Epsilon Unit.

Epsilon glared, "Where is Hargrove, now?"

A screen popped up in front of them with Hargrove's video feed on it.

"Safely aboard the bridge," Hargrove answered, "Until you've been dealt with."

They then heard gunfire outside.

"Here they come!" Simmons called through the door.

"FILSS, pull up the controls!" Church said.

Another holographic terminal appeared beside Hargrove's. Tucker moved over to it.

"Do you really believe you can escape this?" Hargrove asked.

"This will just take a minute," Epsilon said, dematerializing.

"Surely you've realized it by now?" Hargrove continued, "You may save the colonists, you may even save the Freelancers, but you and your friends will Not. Be. Leaving. This. Ship."

Tucker shrugged, "Eh, we'll wing it."

"And... done," Epsilon stated.

Tucker pressed a button and terminated Hargrove's video link.

 **XXX**

Back at the Communications Temple, all of the Mantises powered down. The Feds and Rebels paused and looked at them and began firing into the air in celebration. Kimball, Wash, and Carolina look up at the ship.

"Rhode," Carolina smiled at him as Dr. Grey worked on his wounds, "We did it."

"Heh heh-Ow," Rhode winced, "It hurts to laugh."

 **XXX**

Back in the Trophy Room, the doors suddenly burst open and bullets whizzed past Tucker's head.

"Oh crap!" Tucker exclaimed.

He dove for cover as the others ran inside and sealed the door shut behind them.

Grif panted, "So yeah... that way's not looking like a good exit anymore."

"Carolina, we need an extraction!" Church called.

"Roger that," Carolina answered, "We'll fire up a Pelican and be there in a few minutes."

Sparks began to fly as the soldiers began cutting through the door.

"Come on, get that door open!" One yelled.

"We... may not have a few minutes," Simmons gulped.

They all turned and stared at the door

 **XXX**

Back at the Temple, Carolina supported Rhode as they, Wash, Kimball, Palomo, Jenson, Smith, and Bitters boarded the Pelican.

They sat down as Wash gave the pilot directions. Carolina helped strap Rhode in and prepared for a possible fight. Jenson and Palomo both sat down next to each other. As they strapped in, their hands rested together. They blushed, but did not remove them. Bitters saw the two and just rolled his eyes.

Kimball, meanwhile, thought, 'Hold on Tucker. We're coming.'

 **XXX**

Back on the Staff of Charon, Sarge threw down his plasma rifle.

"Well boys, you know what they say..." Sarge then pulled out his trusty shotgun, "Today... is a good day to die."

"Permission to speak freely, sir?"

Sarge turned around to see Grif, who has taken his "Grif Shot" off its pedestal, "Screw that."

Sarge chuckled and pumped his shotgun. And the group prepared for battle.

Lopez flipped the table on its side. Simmons grabbed the Magnum that the Director had last used and loaded it. Doc and Donut shoved the table against the door. Sarge stepped over the coffee mug, shattering it.

"Whoops," Sarge said, not sounding very sorry about it.

Caboose held up Freckles, who said, "READY."

Simmons walked past Tucker and Epsilon, holding the Monitor, "You think the laser on this thing still works?"

"We got this," Tucker stated before turning to Epsilon, "I mean, we do got this, right?"

"I keep running the stats in my head... well I mean, we're close, but no," Church admitted, "We're still short one piece."

"What do you mean?" Tucker asked.

"FILSS?" Church called out, "The suit."

Something then began to rise from the floor. The Reds and Blues stared at it. Doc even dropped his Scanner in shock.

"What. The crap?" Tucker said, slack jawed.

"I saw it when I connected to the terminal," Epsilon explained, "It's got everything that we need. Tucker... Take off your helmet.

The Reds and Blues stood in battle formation. Grif had his Grif Shot, Sarge had his shotgun, Simmons had two Needlers, Donut had two Magnums, Lopez had two Plasma Rifles, Doc/O'Malley had his Rocket Launcher, Caboose had Freckles, and Tucker stood in the center in the Meta's former armor, wielding his sword.

"So how does it feel?" Church asked.

"Kinda... tight in the crotch," Tucker said as the suit changed color from white to aqua, "Buuuttt, I could get used to this!"

"Now that's a good look for you!" Donut complimented.

"Prepare to breach!" They heard a soldier yell.

"Gentlemen," Sarge said, "Looks like this is it.

"Sir, it's been an honor," Simmons stated, forever a suck-up.

"(If I die, make sure my parts are recycled,)" Lopez said.

"I love you too, Lopez!" Donut sniffed.

"Aw, that's so sweet," Doc said before saying in O'Malley's voice, "Now, let us strike fear into the hearts of our enemies, mwahahaha!"

"That's the smartest thing you've ever said," Grif grinned.

"Yeah!" Caboose cheered, aiming Freckles at the door, "Let's get 'em!"

"Hey, uh," Church said, scratching the back of his holographic head, "I just want you guys to know that, out of everyone I've ever met... I hate you all the least."

Tucker smiled, "See you on the other side, Church."

The Reds and Blues readied themselves as the door was almost cut through.

 **XXX**

Suddenly the sparks stop moving. Everything was now in Epsilon's slow point of view. He sighed and his sniper rifle dematerialized.

"Not this time, buddy..."

Epsilon-Delta appeared next to him, "Are you... sure about this?"

"I'm sure..." Church sighed, "Start a recording for me, D."

"Recording."

Church turned to his old friends and began talking.

 **XXX**

 **And I'm saving Church's speech for the epilogue. Till next time guys!**


	22. Epilogue: Memory Is the Key

**Epilogue: Memory Is the Key**

"Hey guys... if you're hearing this then it means you did it. You won. You kicked the crap out of Hargrove's forces. I knew you could. But this is my last stop. See, when I came into this world, I was really just a collection of somebody else's memories.

"But with your help, these memories... they... they took form. They became my voice, my personality. And, after a while, I... I began to make brand new memories of my own. All of these things are what make me who I am... but they're also holding me back.

"I can't run this suit as Epsilon, but if I erase my memories, if I... deconstruct myself, the fragments I'll leave behind will have the strength to get you through this. I believe that."

Each AI fragment appeared in front of the Blood Gulch crew and vanished.

"I wish that there was another way. But I'm leaving this message, as well as others, in the hopes that you'll understand why I have to go this time...

"Hehe, it was actually Doyle who made me realize something that I've never thought of before. There are so many stories where some brave hero decides to give their life to save the day, and because of their sacrifice, the good guys win, the survivors all cheer, and everybody lives happily ever after.

"But the hero... never gets to see that ending. They'll never know if their sacrifice actually made a difference."

Epsilon's form began to flicker.

"They'll never know if the day was really saved."

Epsilon's form flickered more violently this time.

"In the end, they just have to have faith."

And finally, Epsilon shattered.

"Ain't that a bitch."

 **XXX**

 ***Sniff* Gets me every time... And now I'm caught up until whatever Season 14 has in store for us. And I left the last bit uncensored due to it not really having as much as an effect as it was censored. But whatever. Till next time guys!**


End file.
